Clerical Union accepts plan

Press, 23 November 1981, Page 22

Clerical Union accepts plan

Air New Zealand clerical staff in Christchurch have accepted in principle the airline’s plans to set up a manpower deployment group to handle the ‘problem of staffing levels. However, they do not yet recognise that there are any surplus clerical staff, according to the assistant secretary of the Canterbury Clerical Workers’ Union, Mr E. G. Crockett. Mr Crockett said that the document on staff levels released by Air New Zealand’s management last week purported to show that there were 900 surplus jobs but the management had not broken the figures down to show just where this surplus was. The management document, for instance, isolated 15 clerical jobs in the finance section out of 365, but did not say in .which centres these supposed surpluses were. Christchurch clerical staff were also alarmed to see that the . management thought there were-10 surplus senior staff in the Air-

line Officers’ Association working in the engineering division in Christchurch. Mr Crockett said that if the 10 officers were redeployed it would take away half the existing officers from that section. He said that it was also strange that there should be surpluses when in Christchurch alone the management had engaged 12 new staff in the last six months. In some areas clerical workers were being forced to work overtime.

The Canterbury Union was also concerned that Air New Zealand had done nothing to strengthen management pro-, cedures as recommended by the combined union committee.

The union wanted the right to listen to any reasons the management might have for identifying surpluses, then have the right to negotiate a" settlement on staff redeployment rather than accept a mangement directive as suggested in the management document, Mr Crockett said.