Employment Concerns at CWC
Well 2015 has started with a hiss and a great big roar. It appears our ‘cup runneth over’.
A major part of the start of this year was the employment of outside broadcast (OB) crew surrounding and the Cricket World Cup (CWC). Held in NZ, the CWC is an exciting event that showcases to the world how wonderful little Aotearoa and its people are. Hopefully all of us are able to reap the benefits of this. Sadly though, there a dark side to how this event has been staged in NZ. Given the classification of major event status I can’t help but think that politicians may have failed to read some of the small print. We appear to have given away some of our crucial rights, in particular the right to ensure that all NZ residents are given the opportunity to work on such events before we bring in overseas crew. The host broadcaster for the CWC event is ESPN Star Sport, based out of India. They in turn on-sell to other broadcasters to make their money. They employ the camera, sound, production managers and the like. They additionally contract a facilities provider, in this case, Broadcast Solutions (BS) based in Hong Kong, they provide the outside broadcast trucks and facilities.
In December last year the Techos’ Guild was alerted by OB Guild members that details relating to crew employment seemed somewhat vague and cryptic and there was growing concern. After initial requests received by a ‘few NZ technicians’ asking for rates and quotes from ESPN and BS, crew emails went unanswered and as the days before the event drew near there was a wall of silence. No contracts, schedules or call sheets. The numbers of NZ resident contractors approached for work at that stage was less than 10.
To initiate action we needed assistance as fast as possible and sought help to act on behalf of the Guild. Time was of the essence. Andrew Little’s office stepped up to the cause. Within days of our contact with the office, a letter was sent to the ‘Mr Big’ at ESPN. Although no response was received from ESPN, further dialogue with the handful of those initially contacted technicians was re-established from ESPN. We felt hopeful. The numbers however still remained dismally low and the wall of silence befell us once again. The identical scenario was simultaneously happening in Australia with the same major event status having been placed on the event across the Tasman.
Two weeks before the event, crew lists finally came out and it became apparent that the majority of crew were being brought in from countries such as Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, and South Africa. In short, they were bringing in cheap labour. We were made aware of the rate being offered to these crew. ESPN, who were going to make an incredible profit being the host broadcaster, showed they were going to maximise every opportunity at the expense of NZ labour. The estimate from both NZ and Australia was that both countries had approximately 10% of their available workforce employed on the event. In numbers, of an estimated 200 positions, approximately 20 were NZ residents. All the NZ and Australian crew who eventually were fortunate to get employment on the event were contracted below their usual rates.
Andrew Little released a press release on February 8th. From there it was definitely out in the public arena, including on TV One news and in newspapers. The following day Radio Live talkback host Sean Plunket devoted the whole morning to the issue with a resounding 90% of those who called in against the practise of bringing in cheap overseas labour. Sadly the situation is that the major event classification overrides all. And as Prime Minister John Key dismissively stated on the TV One piece “it was up to them to hire who they wanted for the event”. It is disappointing that Mr Key who appears to be very happy to ride on the positive wave of publicity that the NZ film industry is afforded but is not prepared to protect, or stand up for the employment of those who have made it internationally so well respected. Demonstrating how seriously flawed major event status visa processing may be, an additional news broadcast went out on TV One news on February 22nd alluding to breaches of our immigration laws, with some of those who had entered the country to work with alleged undisclosed criminal convictions. Both broadcasts can be viewed on TVNZ OnDemand on the respective dates or on the Techos’ Guild Facebook page.
The major event status legislation is fairly tight and additionally a reciprocal agreement. To make amendments to the legislation may take years, but this is what we as a guild will work towards.
NZ can and naturally wants to stage these great events in the future. It is however important that this does not come at the cost of our workforce. The next event under the major event status is the FIFA U-20’s World Cup this coming May and June. The television broadcast rights have again been given to an international company so we will be looking very closely as to where technicians will be employed from.
