KEY POINTS:
Air Nelson workers are set to strike in two weeks, with a union official saying staff are doing more work for the same pay as the airline takes on extra business.
The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) today served the airline with a 14-day notice of strike action.
From May 24 staff plan rolling stoppages and bans on food freight handling and overtime, said EPMU organiser Strachan Crang.
He said pay rates had been eroded since the independent, Nelson-based Origin Pacific airline collapsed.
"Air Nelson has picked up a heap of extra business with the collapse of Origin Pacific, and our members are doing that extra work for the same pay."
Air Nelson's parent company, Air New Zealand, was using its market dominance to keep wages down, Mr Crang said.
He said Air Nelson was offering staff a three-year deal with a 3.6 per cent pay rise in the first year, 3 per cent in the second and 3.6 per cent in the third.
The union wanted a two-year contract with consecutive pay rises of 5.8 per cent and 4.8 per cent.
Air Nelson general manager John Hambleton said last week incentives were being offered to a number of individual staff on top of their pay rises, and a further 3 per cent incentive for all front-line staff was due to take effect from July 1.
The EPMU withdrew an earlier strike notice on May 1, after the Employment Court indicated the notice wasn't clear enough.
- NZPA
