Ansett strike holds

Press, 26 September 1988, Page 2

Ansett strike holds

RICHARD CRESSWELL

By

The strike by Ansett Airlines finance and reservations staff at Christchurch Airport will continue today. About 31 staff went on strike on Friday over a relocation allowance for moving from the airport to a new central-city office. The general manager of finance for Ansett, Mr John Sheridan, said although Ansett could not meet a claim of five weeks’ gross pay for the move, a “substantial offer” had been made to employees. This was refused. He said the action by workers would not affect airline services or reservations inquiries. The main reason for the move was to improve

work efficiency and save costs, said Mr Sheridan. Workers have been in two separate buildings at the airport. One truck scheduled to

carry goods for the new office had been cancelled on Saturday because of the picketing workers, he said. The national secretary of the Clerical Workers’ Union, Mr John Slater, said the company had offered the workers $5OO. The company would be making substantial savings from the move, he said. The company could have difficulty paying other staff because those on strike did all the accounts, he said. The reservations section in Christchurch handled about 1000 calls

on a Monday and they would not be able to transfer that number of calls to Auckland, he said. Workers are expected to meet tomorrow.

A truck-driver moving goods to the Ansett New Zealand office in Victoria Street, Christchurch, came close to injuring picketers at the site, a Canterbury Clerical Workers’ Union official, Mr Mike Smith, said last evening. The truck, driven by someone who was not a .member of the Drivers’ 'Union, “drove into four or five workers” sitting on the pavement outside the premises. The driver narrowly missed the picketers but squashed their lunches.