Airport fire strike in holidays?

Press, 4 May 1978, Page 6

Airport fire strike in holidays?

Christchurch Airport crash firemen may take industrial action on May 16 unless their dispute about medical insurance is settled in the interim.

The secretary of the Can-; terbury region of the Public Service Association (Mr J. M, McKenzie) said last evening that the executive of the P.S.A. had on Tuesday served 14 days notice of industrial action on the Ministry of Transport. The notice was served after talks broke down in Wellington.

It is not known what form industrial action will take, but the airport would have to be closed if crash firemen were not on duty. The date cited by the P.S.A. is in the middle of the last week of the May school holidays, and a strike of more than one day could have dramatic repercussions. According to Air New Zealand’s southern regional manager (Mr K. Costello), flights during the holidays are heavily booked. The effects of any strike) would depend on how long it!

lasted, he said. If sufficient ;notice were given of its duration, the consequences could be lessened by redirecting travellers, or by rebooking them.

A strike on a Tuesday would be less severe thaq later in the week, when holiday traffic would begin to build up. It would swell the usual end-of-week figurei which were higher than midi week, he said. Several extra flights wera scheduled each day during that week to cater for th« demand, and usual week-dav timetables would applv on Saturday and Sunday. Passenger backlogs from a 24-hour strike could probably be cleared within two days, Mr Costello sard, but it was difficult to estimate the time to clear a larger backlog. Tire Christchurch crash firemen will meet today to hear a report about the talks in Wellington. The meeting will be in their own time and will ; not disrupt services at tha airport.