Air NZ faces Xmas strike

AIR New Zealand has hit out at unions who have called a strike on 21 Dec over a pay dispute, saying the pre-Christmas action will hit the busiest travel day of the year.

New Zealand’s Aviation and Marine Engineers Association (AMEA) and fellow union E Tu have called the strike on behalf of almost 1,000 maintenance engineers, aircraft logistics workers and related staff.

Air New Zealand says the strike will impact almost 42,000 customers booked on 21 Dec, who will potentially face flight cancellations at the height of the holiday rush.

The carrier’s General Manager of Aircraft Maintenance Viv de Beus said it appeared the engineers were deliberately using Christmas holidays as a bargaining chip.

“It would be devastating to see the holiday plans of more than 40,000 hardworking Kiwis and international visitors ruined,” de Beus said.

“We have only been in negotiations with this group for six weeks so industrial action is entirely premature.

“We remain committed to working closely with the engineers’ unions to reach a reasonable agreement and avoid strike action if at all possible.”

Air New Zealand said the average income of the maintenenace engineers was already more than double the average New Zealand wage.