Air NZ won't stop outsourcing plans to Fiji

Air New Boeing 767-300 aircraft

Air New Zealand says political tensions in Fiji will not stop its plan to outsource 70 clerical jobs to the island state's capital, Suva.

The Service and Food Workers Union Nga Ringa Tota (SFWU) today called for the airline to abandon its plans to outsource the jobs to Fiji.

It said a potential military take-over was a good reason not to move the jobs out of New Zealand.

Air NZ has been restructuring union members' jobs as it works to secure a contract with an outsource provider.

SFWU northern regional secretary Jill Ovens said September was the last time the company communicated with the union about the outsource location.

At that stage, Suva was the preferred option, she said.

"The idea of outsourcing to Fiji has got to be in doubt given the likelihood of a coup there."

Ms Ovens said the political tensions illustrated the potential for loss of control if Air NZ operations were outsourced off-shore.

"Several years ago Air NZ outsourced about 20 jobs to Fiji and later had to move to another provider in Mexico because of political instability in Fiji at the time.

"That was a disaster as the Mexican outsource provider didn't do the jobs properly and Air NZ had to bring them back in-house before sending them off to Fiji again."

An Air New Zealand spokeswoman told NZPA the airline "has no intention of reviewing its decision".

- NZPA