Airways keen to cut staff

Press, 4 March 1988, Page 3

Airways keen to cut staff

By

DAVE WILSON

I The Airways Corporation wants to shed about 20 of its staff in its Christchurch flight information and technical maintenance sections.

In confirming this yesterday a corporation spokesman denied there were (also plans to close the flight information services at Timaru and Hokitika airports. The corporation’s restructuring plans have already brought strikes by sections'of its staff and more industrial action is! pending as the P.S.A. and the I corporation argue' ovferla redundancy package. .

The Airways Corporation ’wants to reduce its Christchurch facility by removing five of the 13 staff' positions in its flight information section, . and shedding 14 of its 40 maintenance technicians. The staff’s representative group, the Flight Service Association, and the P.S.A. met last evening to discuss options in • this area of restructuring. The association’s Christchurch chairman, Mr Stewart Douglas, said that while some staff might be interested in accepting

early retirement or voluntary redundancy, no redundancy agreement was in force. The planned reduction in .the flight information section, which relays weather reports and other relevant flight information to aircraft flying on visual flight rules, stems from the cancellation of a night shift last year. The Canterbury regional director of airways operations, (Mr John Best, said that although surplus staff had been handling the additional work with American to Antarctica, the close of the United States Naval Support Force season removed that extra work. The corporation’s human resources manager, Mr Gene O’Neill, said a letter had been sent to staff seeking their intentions and whether they preferred retraining or a redundancy payment. Mr O’Neill said Airways was prepared to be flexible and move staff to

vacancies elsewhere in New Zealand. | :“The hiccup is getting the P.S.A. ito agree to a redundancy agreement.” Within the organisation there have been fears that restructuring would shut the flight information services at Timaru and Hokitika airports, which would then be remotely • controlled from Christchurch.

I While staff believed this was being | seriously studied, Mr Best denied such plans existed. ; I “We have no! proposal to close Timaru 1 or Hokitika. Those operations are not under review.”

I The corporation received notice (yesterday of further industrial action over the redundancy package dispute. All Airways Corporation employees will embark on a 48-hour strike on March 18. The strike, [which will shut airports throughout (New Zealand, is in addition to national industrial action already set for March 10, 12 and 16.