Labour Minister Trevor Mallard has asked the Department of Labour to look into pay disparities between Air New Zealand staff based in China and here.
On Saturday, former immigration minister Tuariki John Delamere labelled the state airline a "flying sweat shop" for paying Chinese flight attendants on Auckland-Shanghaiservices little more than a quarter of their New Zealand colleagues' wages.
He said the majority Government-owned airline hired more than 30 Chinese workers.
The Weekend Herald quoted an Air New Zealand official as saying the Chinese workers were not employed directly by the airline but were seconded by a Chinese company, Fasco, which set their salaries based on market relativity in China.
The Alliance Party co-leader Victor Billot in a statement said the issue was a "red alert" to workers about what free trade deals would mean for New Zealand.
"This situation is exactly what we will see more of under the free trade scam being pushed through behind closed doors the use of cross-border labour with inferior conditions, contracting out, aggressive corporates, and a hands-off approach by Government to push down wages and conditions for workers."
Mr Billot predicted the new step would be for Air NZ to contract out all their international and domestic flight crews to Chinese labour hire agencies.
He called on the Government to intervene.
In today's Herald, Engineering Printing and Manufacturing Union head Andrew Little backed that call.
A spokeswoman for Mr Mallard confirmed Mr Mallard had this morning asked the department to report to him. He expected that to be done within the next fortnight.
