ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

A union representative in New Zealand says the hospitality industry is rife with exploitation after some workers complained they were treated "like slaves".

The hotel management students are cleaning rooms at a luxury hotel and claim they've been underpaid, overworked and, if they complain, threatened with deportation.

The students paid up to €3,500 each to Wellington company Internship New Zealand to come here to gain international experience. They were then employed as housekeepers by cleaning company AHS, which services rooms at the Grand Mercure in Wellington.

The students told Newshub they had been forced to doctor time sheets so some of their hours are not being paid and had their wages unfairly docked.

Unite Union general secretary Gerard Hehir said he had heard many similar stories.