Grievance case goes for mediation

Air Nelson staff member who wrote to senior executives criticising the airline’s handling of flight delays was later dismissed.

Store supervisor Murray Kerr is taking a personal grievance case against Air Nelson which is to go to mediation and, if not resolved, will go to a hearing in October.

Kerr was dismissed on November 29 last year for aggressive, confrontational and intimidating behaviour towards work colleagues.

In a preliminary step he went to the Employment Relations Authority, which has just determined that his personal grievance, relating to events on March 21 last year, was lawfully raised.

On March 19 last year, Kerr sent an email to the company’s senior executives, including Air New Zealand’s chief executive, criticising the handling of flight delays and cancellations at Nelson Airport in the event of bad weather.

Two days later he met Air Nelson technical manager Rob Burdekin.

The ERA determination reported that Kerr said Burdekin berated and threatened him with dismissal, while the airline maintained Kerr became angry and was intimidating.

Later that day Kerr raised a personal grievance over the way he had been spoken to, but that was not addressed by the company. It then issued Kerr with a final warning on June 4.

ERA member David Appelton rejected a claim that a letter sent from Kerr’s union, the Engineering, Printing & Manufacturing Union, to the company constituted the raising of a personal grievance over the final warning.

The company had done what the EPMU required and placed the document on Kerr’s file but no further action was required at that point.