By Jessica Rowe
A group of Indonesian commercial fishermen have stormed into a Christchurch fish factory looking for answers in a long running pay dispute with United Fisheries.
Instead of standing outside with placards they went inside, and their change of tactic seems to have worked.
The 12 crew members from the chartered Korean fishing vessel Melilla 201 and their supporters confronted the company director about their unpaid wages.
The crew is directly employed by Taejin Ltd, which is chartered to fish for the United Fisheries, who are responsible for guaranteeing the crew wages.
One worker, Suwanandi, says he worked 12 hours a day aboard the trawler, and says minimum wage is just not enough.
“My family has been waiting for me and the money because I’m the only one to support the family," he says.
The crew claim they're owed more than $850,000 - around $70,000 each.
“They are claiming they have worked well above those hours, and I'm not disputing that - it's not my place to dispute that - but that's [something] hopefully the court proceedings will make a judgment on,” says United Fisheries chief executive Andre Kotzika.
It hasn't been a great year for the foreign charter vessel industry - the Melilla 201’s sistership Melilla 203 has already been seized and is tied up in Lyttelton Harbour. It has also been embroiled in claims of unpaid wages.
Earlier this month, four officers from the Oyang 75 vessel were fined $420,000 for illegally dumping 400 tonnes of quota fish, and were forced to forfeit their vessel to the Crown. It will join its sistership the Oyang 77 which has also been seized.
As for the crew from the Melilla 201, they've got some satisfaction but are still frustrated for not being paid for all those extra hours.
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