Strike halts travellers

Press, 3 July 1985, Page 8

Strike halts travellers

P/ Auckland Hundreds of New Zealand travellers were stranded in Auckland and Sydney last ■ evening as a result of a firefighters’ strike at Mascot Airport, Sydney. Air New Zealand had to cancel two flights, one from Sydney yesterday morning and one to Sydney in the afternoon. Hotel accommodation was being provided last evening for stranded passengers and an Air New Zealand spokesman said they would try to place passengers on other carriers today. The spokesman said the the airline and its pilots had been prepared to fly, but the cabin crew had refused to work. The president of the New Zealand Airline Stewards and Stewardesses’ Union, Mr Brian Pugh, said it was his union’s policy for cabin

crew not to fly in or out of any aiport which did not have crash fire-fighting facilities available. He said this was in the interests of passenger safety. The strike, which disrupted international and domestic flights, was to go before the Australian Arbitration Commission late last evening. Most foreign airlines have stopped flying in or out of Sydney. An estimated 10,000 travellers are affected. However, a Qantas spokesman said its flights would continue as normal because the airline had special fire-fightipg arrangements and was fully equipped to deal with an emergency. The fire-fighters walked off the job yesterday morning in support of their claim for improved manning levels and a shorter working week.