The Restaurant Association has been in touch with the new Minister of Immigration, Hon. Michael Wood.
The letter was to raise our concern and disappointment about negative comments made by the Minister in the New Zealand Herald over the weekend, which damage the hospitality sector and the work the industry is doing to try to attract people to our industry.
We’ve requested the opportunity to meet with the Minister in person to discuss the issues that are of utmost importance to our sector – and more importantly, the proactive work our industry is leading to address these issues.
You can read a copy of the letter here.
4 July 2022
Hon Michael Wood
Minister of Immigration
Minister for Workplace Relations
Parliament Buildings
Wellington
m.wood@ministers.govt.nz
Tēnā koe e te Minita
Request to meet from the Restaurant Association of New Zealand
The Hospitality and Tourism industries have always relied on some degree of a migrant workforce, and we worked closely with your predecessor Hon Kris Faafoi to traverse the many challenges we are facing as a result of the past two years.
So it was with concern and disappointment that we read your comments in the New Zealand Herald over the weekend, which perpetuate the use of the Hospitality sector as a default example of supposed ‘bad employers” in New Zealand.
We are far from the only sector in New Zealand facing skills shortages – for example, tech is also struggling despite being one of the highest paying industries – and comments that target Hospitality as a low-wage industry with insecure working conditions are extremely disheartening and dismissive of the vast majority of employers who have committed their lives to their businesses, their staff and the wider Hospitality industry in New Zealand.
We are now facing a perfect storm of covid, winter bugs, isolation requirements, closed borders, visa processing delays and now changes to the work visa criteria. Coupled with record low unemployment rates, it is near impossible for us to play our part in providing the hospitality that New Zealand is known for around the world without relying on migrant workers to bolster our workforce.
Our sector is doing all it can to change the perception of Hospitality from those echoed in your comments over the weekend. Wages in our industry have increased at an average of 9% over the past year – well above the average increase across all industries, and this has been consistent throughout the pandemic as we recognise the need to retain and attract staff. We are also about to launch our industry-led Hospitality Accreditation program, HospoCred, which will see a major transformation in the way Hospitality businesses publicly reinforce their commitment to employment best practice, and collectively raise the bar to fix the misconceptions of our industry.
I believe that there is more we can agree on than not, and would value the opportunity to meet with you in person to discuss the issues that are of utmost importance to our sector – and more importantly, the proactive work our industry is leading to address these issues. I am optimistic that if we work closer together at the outset, we can rebuild the confidence of employers, employees and customers to ensure a healthy recovery for our industry.
Ngā mihi nui,
Marisa Bidois
Tāhuhu Rangapū (Chief Executive)
Restaurant Association of New Zealand