Airport strike threat

Press, 25 February 1988, Page 2

Airport strike threat

By

DAVID CLARKSON

Talks on Airways Corporation redundancies and employment conditions for air traffic controllers went on yesterday, with a new threat of industrial action hanging over New Zealand airports. The corporation’s human resources manager, Mr Gene O’Neill, said there had been “informal dialogue” in Wellington on the redundancies. The first day of talks on air traffic controllers’ conditions as they transfer

from the public sector to the corporation was also scheduled. But it is the redundancy issue which has prompted the new notice of a strike which is expected to close all airports for six hours on March 10, and 12 hours on March 12. “Public Service Association members throughout New Zealand have unanimously endorsed the rolling stoppages as the only alternative means of resolving a long-running dispute over redundancies which will involve rescue

fire-fighters, technicians, engineering staff and flight service officers losing their jobs in April,” said the vice-president of the P.S.A., Mr Colin Feslier. The issue was the corporation’s refusal to table a redundancy pay formula that compensated shift workers for their ordinary average takehome pay, he said. The corporation was insisting on the calculation in the “Public Service redeployment-severance package,” which was reie-

vant only to workers who did not work regular shift work. Members being made redundant in pronvincial centres where there was high unemployment would probably be forced to move to seek other work, : he said. Mr O’Neill said the corl poration was assessing the effects of the industrial action, but it was expected to have “a dramatic impact.” i Whether flights would ! keep running was a ques- : tion for the airlines, he said. Some commuter air-

lines had kept flying during the rescue firefighters’ strike, but he did not know whether they would continue working with uncontrolled airspace. Mr Feslier said P.S.A. group delegates had attended at least five meetings with the corporation since October, and each time the corporation had “refused to explore compromise proposals.” Mr O’Neill said a number of proposals had been made, which had all been declined by the P.S.A. j.