Striking Air NZ cabin crew to be locked out

Photo / Brett Phibbs

Flight attendants intending to go on strike in May will be locked out, Air New Zealand said this evening.

The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) said today cabin crew for Air New Zealand subsidiary Zeal would launch a four day strike on May 7 as part of an ongoing pay dispute.

The strike would involve 240 flight attendants and affect all Trans-Tasman and Pacific flights serviced by Air New Zealand's Airbus A320 fleet.

EPMU national secretary Andrew Little said the action was not undertaken lightly and followed seven months of failed negotiations, in which the union had asked for Zeal workers to receive the same pay as crew members working directly for the parent company.

The only people employed by Zeal were the attendants and the sole purpose of the company was to exclude them from the terms and conditions crew working directly for the parent company had, Mr Little said.

"It's an unethical use of corporate legal structures to deprive these workers of decent conditions and the flight crew are quite rightly taking this action in an attempt to level the playing field," Mr Little said.

"This is a matter of basic fairness. We'll continue to negotiate with the company in good faith until we get an agreement."

However, Air New Zealand Group general manager of short haul airlines Bruce Parton said the company would not be held to ransom and that Zeal had issued notice to EPMU that it would lock out flight attendants during the strike.

"Strike notices are often issued and then pulled at the last moment to maximise disruption," Mr Parton said.

"So, to ensure customers can count on Air New Zealand to get them where they want to go over this period, EPMU Zeal members will be locked out so as to protect the Air New Zealand schedule and enable us to commence implementation of a crew roster using alternate staff that we have ready to go."

Mr Parton said the company had respected the right for union members to strike up until now, but that they had had enough.

" Zeal is now exercising its rights under the bargaining process to issue a lock-out notice against the strike notice period to ensure customers can expect the level of service they look forward to when they fly with Air New Zealand," he said.

"Certainly they can't count on Zeal staff at the moment."

Earlier this month, flight attendants called off strike action planned for Easter after a legal challenge by Air New Zealand.

Crews have continued their protest by refusing to comply with the airline's uniform policy or to carry out stand-by duties.

- NZPA