Wellington restaurant joins protest against Government's immigration policy

Owner of Wellington restaurant Monsoon Poon Mike Egan. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Thousands of restaurant workers will down tools and switch out the lights today to mark their frustration with the Government's immigration policies.

The two-minute protests come after three top Auckland restaurants said they'd be closing down for the entire fortnight of the school holidays.

They say they just don't have the staff to keep going.

2000 restaurants across the country will switch off their lights at either 11.30am or 7pm today, as a cry for help to address staff shortages in the sector.

The industrial action, led by the Restaurant Association, started with a petition last month calling for further government consultation on its immigration policy.

Owner of Wellington restaurant Monsoon Poon Mike Egan told Newstalk ZB's Early Edition he will join the protest.

Egan said 70 per cent of their workforce comes from the global hospitality community.

"We haven't been able to replace them so what we want the Government to do is to allow our essential workers skill visas to be extended."

He said the hospitality industry had been lumped in by the Government with other industries that can't get visa extensions.

"We are a low skilled industry that's not worthy of our essential skills visas being extended."

Quite a few businesses are close to shutting their doors, Egan said.

"Already quite a number are shutting for two days of the week and just down to one sort of shift, lots here in Wellington are five day a week operations now."

He said today's protest is an opportunity to talk with customers about what's happening to the industry.

"We are not asking them to leave the restaurant or anything but they can just look around and go this could be the reality one day, your favourite café might be shut forever or [you] might not be able to access [it] a couple days of the week."

He said they are an important part of the social fabric of cities, towns and villages.

"I know our customers want us to be there for them and we are not asking for a lot, we are just asking for extensions. We know we can't bring in new workers.

"We have always had part of our workforce from the global hospitality community, our people likewise go and work in other countries and then come back with their knowledge and new skills. It is part of how the industry works."