Talks start today on the future of 1700 Air NZ jobs
Report from New Zealand say that talks between the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) and Air New Zealand will begin today in Auckland on on the future of nearly 1700 passenger and ground-handling services jobs at Air New Zealand.
It appears that the talks represent what may be the last opportunity to stop the outsourcing of the services, EPMU secretary Andrew Little said yesterday.
In October 2006, Air New Zealand announced a proposal to save $20 million a year by contracting out its airport services at Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch to an overseas joint venture involving Spanish-owned group Swissport. In addtion, up to 400 Christchurch jobs would be affected.
After consultation with the airline, the EPMU filed legal action in the Employment Court questioning the airline’s motives, with Air New Zealand since postponing any decisions about its proposal until February 8, when the action is due to be heard in the Employment Court in Auckland. In addition, this week and next have been set aside for talks.
Little said there was a lot at stake, adding, “This is about the future quality of this important frontline work and about the future quality of working life for many of these employees.”
The union had completed its own evaluation of the airline’s original proposal and would present this to the airline today, saying, “Without disclosing the analysis we’ve commissioned, we do not beleive that there are $20m worth of savings,” said Little, who also believes that the underlying issues were operational, such as rostering.
He said, “We will be saying, let’s talk about the real issues and see what we can come up with’.”
Air NZ made a net profit of $96m in the year to June 2006.
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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