North Shore School Security Guard Mugged, Shot In Face

A security guard at Onepoto Primary School in the affluent suburb of  North Shore, Auckland was shot in a the face after he was attacked by a teenager demanding money on Friday evening.

Despite the guards protestations that he had  no cash on him the young thug shot him four times in the face and arms with an airgun. Read the report here

Official police figures show that during 2009 violent crime rose by 9.2% for the whole of new Zealand with 65,465 offences being recorded. The number of recorded homicide offences leaped from 23 to 134, with 65 recorded murders in 2009 compared to 13 in 2008.

But what does this escalation of violent crime mean on a local level for the residents in suburbs that were once thought of as relatively safe and  ‘great places to raise kids’ ?

You may remember the story of a Beach Haven mother who was disgusted at random acts of violent that were ruling the streets of her community. Beach Haven is just to the west of Northcote where Onepoto primary school is situated.

The mother said she considered it a lovely, sunny place that didn’t feel violent but had been hearing of regular incidents of thuggery and had found out (through Facebook) that two young boys were beaten up at 6am on morning as they waited for a bus on Rangatira Rd.

One had his nose broken, eye-socket cracked and three teeth knocked out. His shoes and cellphone were stolen. See Street attack fuels fears:

“Beach Haven community constable Grant Kenny says police haven’t been able to identify the offenders. The case is on hold unless they receive new information, he says.
Liz says Beach Haven and Birkdale have a sad reputation already.
“Why exactly do we have this random violence ruling the streets of Beach Haven?” she says.
“There has got to be a better way to sort it out than simply moving to Takapuna.”

Even Takapuna has its problems though, in September of last year a man walked into Rodney Wayne hairdressers in the Westfield Shopping Centre with a shotgun and robbed the staff, punching one of them in the throat.

To our knowledge no one has been arrested in connection with that incident either and we suspect that gang activity is now well entrenched in the neighbourhood.

Random savage attacks in North Shore linked to Killer Beez Gang expansion bid (January 2008)

"New Zealand's fastest-growing gang has spread to the North Shore, and is linked to this week's hyper-violent attacks.

The Weekend Herald has learned that one of those charged with the attacks, an 18-year-old from Glenfield, has a close family connection to the North Shore "recruiter" for the street gang, known as the Killer Beez, that started in the South Auckland suburb of Otara and now has followers throughout the city

North Shore Mayor Andrew Williams last night described the gang’s presence as “disturbing“.

He said he would meet police next week to make sure street gangs did not get a foothold on the North Shore, and wanted to tell the Killer Beez or any of their counterparts considering crossing the bridge it was no “soft touch“.
Police investigating Wednesday’s attacks have raised the possibility that they were done as a “prospecting” exercise for the Killer Beez…”

Today's posts - click here

The Downsides Of New Zealand

 Continuing in our Migrants' Tales - first hand accounts of the migrant experience in NZ, taken from sites around the net:

Observations about some of the downside of New Zealand
"The best advice one can give skilled NZ immigrants today is to wise up about NZ.


Imagine working in a third world country or the former "DDR" and you get the picture. And befitting to a country only pretending to be a democratic capitalist economy, NZ is known amongst those who dare to read the fine print, to influence media and falsify statistics to appear like a "Britain in the Tropics".

This can only be explained with the quite feeble and bribe/nepotism-riddled economy and the bad living conditions (bad housing, low wages, high crime) that apparently leave the government no choice to lie. If you haven't heard about these facts in the daily press it is due to the intelligent NZ news management.

NZ earns as much (about 8 billion $) from Immigrants as from tourism. If you look closely, you can detect a policy to incorporate the immigrant savings within the first 2 years into the NZ economy without paying out any government benefits (not even if you are working and paying taxes).

The majority of immigrants who has not "worked themselves poor" after these first two years, leaves, usually empty-handed and without savings. A government statistic states that 98% of immigrants are still there after 2 years. It was publicized on international travel and placed in "quality of life" articles.

The truth is that only immigrants already in the country for more than 2 years have participated in it, so the majority of immigrants who had already left the country never showed up in the figures. Other "big claims" are just as unreal when you live here, like "green country", or "educational system that scored high in PISA". This is a place of make-believe. A prop-country.

In relation to work permits there are no rules that you couldn't find overthrown tomorrow. The economy is weak and unstable due to soft laws, bribing, nepotism and a brutal government employee attitude of "squeezing out money for oneself no matter what" commonly only found in this quantity in third world countries with an economically traumatized middle class like Guatemala.

Any government official who can afford it has a house in other countries. That alone says a lot. And it is simply not true that the average person works less. If they want to get ahead and not drift through life with minimal money, they work the same hours, but in cold and damp offices, earnings half of what you get for the same work in Europe (if you get 40.000 EUR, expect to get 40.000 NZ$ here, which are 20.000 EUR).

Yes, living costs are "the same" compared to the rest of the industrialized world, but you earn half, so what does that mean for your spending power in a country that imports everything from toothbrushes to TVs for regular EUR and US$ prices? Many working adults in Auckland can't even afford their own apartment and you can find many groups of 3-4 40 year olds accountants, sales people, bank employees or other middle class workers, sharing houses just because the rents are so ridiculously high and they are still paying off years for a simple TV.

Buying houses can be a shocking experience. The houses are not insulated and without proper heating giving New Zealanders the highest asthma statistics. It's the kind of housing you buy as "garden sheds" in Europe. This alone must be one of the weirdest aspects of this bloated, false palm tree-economy and one of the main reasons my husband and I are leaving the country soon. No realistic relation between house prices and what you get for the money. A normal garden shed type house (a timber frame with wood panels nailed on) costs about as much as a "real" house in Europe made of stone, with heating and insulation, which you pay off with halved wages. Which means, NZlers actually never own their houses, but pay "rent" to the banks all their lives. Pretending to be more than one is, is a big sport here.

Recently a lot of European immigrants have been chased out of the country after they were fired and lost their work visas. It was a little national scandal going through the leading papers, Currently New Zealand is loosing many of the foreign skilled laborers they so feverishly tried bring into the country in the past years. Also 40.000 Kiwis leave for Australia every year (which is a lot with a population of 4 million), because of the bad wages while government agencies stall applications of immigrants. What you have heard about "better have a job before coming to NZ" is a result of of that blind, confused nationalistic activism.

The job situation is especially bad for everyone "skilled" like Ad and Media professionals, teachers, consultants or other office or class room professionals. There are many stories of Europeans and US citizens being mobbed and excluded from positions which are continuously advertised as free. This is not Europe or the US, so being forced to work under inhumane conditions or being subjected to mobbing and racist jokes or being excluded based on gender, race or nationality is not something you can bring to court here. It is more likely that the police will come to your house to harass you, because one of his cousins works in the same office with you and heard that you had been complaining about NZ (when all you might have said is that you are freezing at your desk because the room is unheated and that this is something that could not happen in Europe)

Under such conditions, should you still try to get a work visa from Europe or the US before coming here? Why not, but it might not be worth the paper that it is written on, because you can easily spent 6 months to a year here (finance with your own money) without being hired (despite several jobs available you would be a perfect match for) and then you have to return anyway. And you couldn't even enjoy the beach, because you are burning away your savings and subjecing yourself to unjust treatment and a world of abuse where you as a person count little.

If you really need to be in this country, come here for three months on a tourist visa in a test run, and see if you could get a job in your line of work and if the money would be enough and if you can stand the "socialist economy" attitudes, store inventory, housing, and the constant degrading comments about foreigners meant to be funny, but that just get on every immigrants nerves never after the 10th time while you degrade to just another NZ cash cow. The over-eagerly nice NZ people that do everything for paying tourists are the same people that will harass and ignore anyone who attempts to settle down here and take away "their" jobs.

In any case NZ itself is always the winner, financially, but at what cost. I shudder when I think about what moral values NZ destroys, just for a short-sighted, greedy gain of undoubtedly heavy immigrant savings. And if you see yourself in old age and think about your contribution to the world, is it really the right thing to do to spend your life supporting a degrading, nature and value destroying little country with low morale? I'm not a social worker or doctor, but the thought of me supporting this country by living here, while I see what it does to people and nature, and values is something that has gotten to me over the past two years. I don't think anyone serious about not only their carbon but also their "moral" footprint wants to have that on their conscience.

And also, even if you get used to being the immigrant idiot everyone takes advantage of (especially when you are an intellectual and skilled and like doing a good job), and eventually learn to steal and bribe and cheat your way up the NZ social ladder "Number 8 wire" style (because there is no other way to do it), can you get over the fact that you've been compromised by a society where dishonesty is a high moral value?. How much can you enjoy a nice beach so that you forget that constant bad feeling in your stomach of supporting the wrong cause in a place far away from friends, family and decency?

Europe and the US are not great achievements of mankind in many ways, but at least, they're not prop countries, a film set where everything looks like the real thing, but isn't. The only real thing here is the nature, and it comes down to living in a "Dharma Initiative" tropical camp that rewards the ones that bribe, steal, cheat, kill and torment, and slowly destroys the honest people."

Today's posts - click here

"Kiwis Worst In The World For Bullying"

Over a quarter of New Zealanders have been bullied at work according to the results of a new study Understanding Stress and Bullying in New Zealand Workplaces.

The report says that New Zealand has one of the world's worst records for workplace bullying and stress, something that may come as an unpleasant surprise to people moving to New Zealand for its supposedly  'laid back attitudes' and 'great work-life balance.'

The reality, of course, is very different.

Most of us are by now are aware that New Zealand has an appalling record for bullying, especially in schools and has "a culture of brutality that has to stop".

Auckland paediatrician and former Children’s Commissioner Ian Hassall said back in 2008 that high rates of bullying reflected a “punitive culture“ and that New Zealand schools lead the world in bullying. This new report shows its workplaces aren't far behind.

You can read from our Migrant's Tales and see for yourself some first hand accounts of bullying endured by both children and adults and we know that hundreds of teachers are assaulted in schools every year.

If bullying and brutality are so common in schools is it any wonder that it has infected every other layer of society, including the workplace?

This new study was carried out under the auspices Professor Tim Bentley, associate head of the University’s School of Management in the College of Business at Albany, Auckland, who says the findings showed stress and bullying are at high levels when compared internationally.

"1728 respondants completed the survey, approximately three quarters of whom were women with the largest representation from the health sector, the highest levels of stress and bullying were observed in the education and health sectors with with higher levels of laissez-faire leadership, lower constructive leadership, higher levels of stress, lower well-being, lower performance, higher turnover intentions, higher absenteeism, and lower levels of organisational support and commitment. Organisational strategies were perceived as more effective by non-targets of bullying than by those who felt that they had been bullied." (source)

In a press release on the Massey University website:

"“The magnitude is higher than expected,” Professor Bentley says. “Bullying is happening and it is not being addressed. It has long been accepted that this is the way of working – if you cannot stand the heat get out of the kitchen. But once the pressure, is off they will all go for a drink together and socialise after work.”
And it is not just cooks, waiters and bar staff copping it at work. Employees in three other sectors – health, education and travel – have similar rates of bullying to hospitality workers.
The researchers had already identified those sectors of the workforce as at higher risk of bullying and, funded by the Department of Labour and the Health Research Council, they surveyed 1728 workers, including doctors, nurses, teachers and academics as well as hotel and restaurant staff.
Eighteen per cent reported they had been victims of bullying at work, while 75 per cent had suffered from stress. Professor Bentley says nine times out of 10 the manager is the bully and bad leadership is the cause. “There needs to be a zero-tolerance policy towards bullying and this requires a cultural change," he says. "If we see someone driving unsafely, we would challenge that, but people do not stand up and address bullying behaviour. We need to be confident enough to challenge people if we see this happening and strategies need to be identified to prevent it in the workplace.”
In health and education, ineffective leadership was identified as one of the main factors leading to increased stress and bullying. The study found that employers in all four sectors had limited understanding of the workplace bullying problem and how to address it. Reporting structures were not effective with bullying included as part of wider harassment or violence initiatives.
Dr Bevan Catley and Dr Dianne Gardner from Massey University were part of the multidisciplinary team that conducted the research alongside Professor Michael O'Driscoll (University of Waikato), Dr Helena Cooper-Thomas (University of Auckland), and Dr Linda Trenberth (Birbeck, London)."

The full report may be found HERE

There is also a Facebook group for the Healthy Work Group, HERE's the link if you want to join or read some more.

The public response to the report makes for interesting reading too, have a look at what people are saying in the comments section of this Stuff article: "Kiwis worst in the world for bullying"

Random

"Of course bullying in NZ is rife, most NZ businesses are smaller than 10 people and the bosses are usually the owners who expect you to work the long hard hours - from a previous article, NZ is up there with Japan as far as people who work long hours goes. As employees we are paid pitifully and I know from my overseas experience that New Zealand business is a joke as far as treating employees fairly goes. Come to the conclusion, NO ONE CARES! Best to move on (if you can)"

Hans

"To Hill dweller who said: "I prefer now to return home (to more money and better prospects I might add) and start over once more in a country where legislation protects its workers."

New Zealand has legislation to protect its workers from bullying, but hardly anyone uses it. Stress is a recognized workplace hazard which is caused by bullying (amongst other things), and failure by management to address it has serous consequences, when it's actually reported.
Part of the problem could be our "we should be able to stick up for ourselves" attitude, or fear of losing our jobs (which is bogus, because unfair dismissals are also illegal). More likely, it's because the stress of standing up, forcing management to act, and even taking them to court if necessary, is more than the bullying itself.
I think that a few high profile cases of managers being prosecuted for failing to address bullying would be the kick in the pants that some need to take it seriously."

Another Stat

"In two previous jobs I have had problems, one in an insurance company in which I mentioned it to my manager and nothing happened until the guy left and then she admitted she had had problems with him. The other being in a NZ owned company in Silverstream, Upper Hutt. Here it was a manager and when brought to the attention of another manager the situation was ignored. When this was done, I quit for my own health and was told I was following the foot steps of a few others before me with the same problem."

Emma
"It is a very unsophisticated culture to work in here (and to live in too, actually)

I have worked in the US and the UK but am a Kiwi.
If management in companies there behaved like they do here, the companies would be in court and being fined, as well as paying huge compensation to the staff bullied.
There's no point in relying on the grievance procedure: our workforce is so small that no professional would ever get another job if they did so.
References are another issue: in the EU they are almost always generic and issued by the HR department (Mrs X worked here for 5 years and her performance was satisfactory is about all you'll get) because employees can sue their former employers for giving them bad references where there is no real justification. Thus you will almost never be able to speak to a candidates actual manager.
Here I know of one person who left a well paid $100k+ job after a simple personality clash with her boss (her work was perfectly fine, they just did not get on at all) and she had to change careers because he kept giving her terrible references. She felt that she could do nothing to challenge him so she had to re-train and give up a 20 year career."

Also Work in IT
"Bullying can mean different things to different people, but let's not confuse gruff management style with real bullying. I had a manager once whose management style included standing over a (seated) staff member in a meeting room and punching the wall over the staff member's head while he yelled at him. That's not a case of "harden up", it's about professionalism and common respect for your fellow man.
That guy notwithstanding, the worst bullies I've encountered have been women. I notice that the men at work call them "control freaks" rather than bullies (tone of voice implies that's to be expected from a woman). I've seen two women (both Brits, incidentally) bully their way into management positions by undermining and sabotaging the work of their colleagues and/or claiming credit for work that wasn't theirs. In both cases, this ended with them inventing a job title and demanding a pay rise to go with it. What astounds me is that they got away with it! One of them has a fabulous resume on LinkedIn, detailing her increasingly fancy job titles (each describing the exact same role). Male managers seem to be intimidated by these women and give them what they want to keep them quiet (I assume ... or maybe they admire their ruthlessness?)."

Today's posts - click here