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Air New Zealand management faces a growing industrial escalation over plans to fire hundreds of flight attendants, while many staff members express concern that the company is not doing enough to curb the risks of spreading Covid-19.
The pandemic has forced the national airline to cut domestic and international flights, as New Zealand’s borders are essentially closed to everyone except returning residents or citizens, who are quarantined for two weeks on arrival.
Air NZ flight attendants claim that 950 of them will receive redundancy notifications next week.
They want the process to stop, as it started during the crash, and they have not received adequate inquiries beyond the company-led live streams.
Staff have launched a letter writing campaign to MPs, saying: “We ask that you contact the Air New Zealand executive team and pledge your support for our request that the redundancy consultation process be suspended so far. that we enter level 2 and a proper consultation process can be facilitated between the airline and its employees. “
The letter also notes that Air NZ is receiving the wage subsidy – more than $ 70 million so far, as well as a $ 900 million government-backed loan.
And for “any fair and reasonable employer,” the letter says it comes with obligations.
“We believe that starting an accelerated redundancy process is not at the core of the wage subsidy, which was designed to save jobs, protect New Zealand’s economy, and ensure that our nation is equipped with the resources to recover and recover afterward. of the Covid-19 pandemic is contained, “the letter said.
“I agree with them, it’s not fair, and for the sake of another week to show good faith in part of this discussion, I think Air NZ should try to do that,” said National Deputy Todd McClay.
“I wrote to Air NZ to request a meeting, a briefing, and I just explained to them that it is very important that all Air NZ employees are treated fairly and see that the process is fair and robust.”
On Tuesday, Air NZ staff received a company-wide email celebrating the fact that Australians and New Zealanders have chosen the airline as their most trusted, respected and admired brand.
An Air NZ crew member said Control It was ironic.
“Air New Zealand is focused on its shareholders and protecting its brand rather than its front-line employees. They should be looking inward to identify the savings within their expensive senior executive and management team.
“These unsustainable wages can hardly be justified when the average front-line worker earning close to the minimum wage is fired.”
Air NZ is slow to respond to Ministry of Health regulations on crew stopovers
Meanwhile, after previously refusing to reveal figures, Air NZ confirmed on April 22 that 30 of its workers had been infected with Covid-19.
Admission came later Control It revealed that some Air NZ workers were becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the crew exempt from a 14-day suspension after international flights, to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
“On March 19, the NZ5 arrived in Auckland from LAX in which three passengers tested positive for Covid-19, at least two crew members tested positive later. A crew member on that flight, before testing positive, dropped off at Bluff to attend a wedding, and now we all know about the “Bluff group,” said an Air NZ employee Control.
Air New Zealand planes parked at Auckland Airport two during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Photo: Supplied / Air New Zealand
Recordings of that meeting have been provided to Control.
“Important changes to be aware of, especially if your crew flies internationally,” Johnson said at the meeting.
“There are changes around expectations on the scale. In the past, some discretion was allowed as to whether you should stay in your hotel room or not, and the wording of that Ministry of Health requirement was to stay in your hotel room if feasible.
“It is important for you to know that those words have been removed, and the clear expectation now is that you absolutely must stay at your hotel on a stopover. There is no discretion, there is no eligible reason for you to leave the hotel, and the Ministry of Health wants an absolute guarantee from Air New Zealand that it is being fulfilled, “he said.
Two weeks before this address of the staff, the advice of the Ministry of Health to the crews of the airlines already stated clearly that the crews must remain in the hotel rooms during the calls.
But at the meeting, Johnson referred to outdated advice from the Ministry of Health on March 16.
The new and stricter rules had been in play for at least a fortnight before the staff meeting on April 23.
“Meeting this requirement to stay at your hotel is very, very important,” Johnson said at the meeting.
“The New Zealand Government is very sensitive to this issue at the moment, we have been very successful in New Zealand controlling Covid-19 internally, we would like to keep it that way, and I know it is inconvenient, I know it is difficult, but this is part of the role you play in keeping the rest of New Zealand safe. “
The team complains about staying in hotels without room service
Despite tight border controls, Air NZ’s international crews have largely been exempt from the 14-day isolation rule, with the exception of crews returning from Los Angeles.
The teams say they are sometimes stopping for five days due to reduced flight times, and Air NZ is still using hotels that don’t have food on site.
“We are the essential workers as a frontline flight crew,” said one Air NZ crew member. Control.
“Away from our families for days, bringing Kiwis back home, and Air NZ can’t even put us in a room service hotel to meet the requirements of the Ministry of Health. We are prepared to fail.”
Langridge addressed the issue at the online meeting.
“How are we supposed to gather food at hotels like Los Angeles that don’t have room service, if we can’t leave?” That is a good question. What many crew members have been telling me is that they have been receiving Uber Eats and delivering food to the hotel. That is what the crew tells me what they are doing, I am not sure about the pilots, but I am sure they are doing the same thing, “he said.
“There are an increasing number of services that will deliver food to you. I understand that it is a little more expensive,” Johnson said.
Documents provided to Control Concerns have been raised repeatedly about teams failing to meet scale guidelines.
Last week, Air Zealand admitted that the crew returning from Vancouver had to isolate themselves after allegedly breaching the guidelines.
Since that incident, the company has introduced a declaration form that the crew must sign on departure and on return saying they have followed the rules.
Transport Minister Phil Twyford and Air New Zealand Minister of Shareholders Grant Robertson have declined to comment.
