Expelled Thai left $100,000 poorer

By STEPHEN COOK

The Thai overstayer expelled from NZ after being caught working illegally at a West Auckland bakery is likely to be owed at least $100,000 in unpaid wages.

Prasob Somsrinong was booted out in April after the Immigration Service swooped on the Western Bakery in New Lynn.

Somsrinong had been working there illegally for seven years at $4.70 an hour, about half the present minimum adult wage.

Based on what he should have been paid over the seven years, Somsrinong is owed at least $100,000 - money he will never recover unless he files a private prosecution from Thailand.

Under New Zealand law, he is not allowed to return to this country for five years, and on re-entry must reimburse the costs of being sent home.

Last month, Western Bakery owner-operator Chikhoun Liuu pleaded guilty to employing an illegal worker and breaching the Holidays Act. He was fined $2000.

The Immigration Service is claiming the case as a success, the first lawsuit following amendments to the Immigration Act giving it greater powers to prosecute employers for gross breaches of employment standards.

However, the president of the Council of Trade Unions, Ross Wilson, said yesterday that the $2000 fine was "pathetic" and no deterrent.

"Some employers think they are above the law when it comes to their workers and many have openly said they would defy the new holidays legislation, as it was less important than other laws of the land," he said.

"This case shows the type of shameful behaviour that results from that kind of attitude."

Immigration Service spokeswoman Michelle Williams confirmed that the service would not seek the money Somsrinong was owed in wages. He would have to pursue that personally.

Pacific Global Immigration Consultants spokesman Russell Page said that in his experience labour-market exploitation was mostly confined to migrant employers.

Migrant workers were reluctant to speak out as they were not comfortable with authority figures and did not want to jeopardise their chances of remaining in New Zealand.