Letter: More questions for Immigration

Kia Orana Editor, During the Covid lockdowns we lost 15 foreign workers to New Zealand poachers as soon as we opened our borders to New Zealand.

We had to travel overseas to interview these people, invested a lot of money to bring them to the Cook Islands and more money to upskill them.
Fast forward, we had to invest double the amount of money to replace the same number of workers to get us back to pre-Covid.  Money that could have been part of Tav's net profit that the Government also missed out on.

Below is a list of the difficulties and responsibilities in bringing in
foreign workers.
1.      Time spent scouting and interviewing potential employees.
2.      The risk of hiring poor performers and covering costs to send them
back.
3.      Stressful months of paperwork and expenses to get foreign workers to
the Cook Islands.
4.      Tav cover costs for medical, airfares, work permits etc. 
5.      More costs  spent on upskilling.
6.      Tav carry the full financial responsibility for repatriation, sick
leave, holiday leave, public holidays, bonuses and super payments.

I now have a few questions below:

1.      What responsibility does the secondary employer have?
2.      Who polices if they are paying income tax etc?
3.      What contribution do they have to the many expenses covered by the primary employer?
4.      Foreign employees will be rushing to a second job increasing the risk of accidents?
5.      Is the secondary employer responsible for any accidents taking place on their premises?
6.      When do these workers get to rest?
7.      Does the primary employer have a say in blocking secondary employment?
I'm afraid this is only another cheap tactic for business owners looking for cheaper avenues to increase their profits at the expense of other businesses.

I've had enough of immoral poachers.  Pay your way.

Yours sincerely,

Ellena Tavioni.

Cook Islands News has approached Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration for comment.