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A union leader and Labour Party ally is calling on the Government to intervene over major disparities in pay rates between Air New Zealand flight attendants based in China and their New Zealand counterparts.
Andrew Little, head of the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, said the Government should hold Air New Zealand to account after revelations that Shanghai-based flight attendants were paid quarter the salary of their New Zealand colleagues.
"The Government, as the principal shareholder of Air New Zealand, needs to take a close interest and make sure the national airline is meeting the standards the Government would expect as an employer."
The Government owns 76 per cent of the airline and Labour Minister Trevor Mallard will ask the Department of Labour for a report after the Weekend Herald revealed Air NZ's Shanghai-based flight attendants were paid less than the minimum wage and given one-third of the extra allowances New Zealand-based attendants received for travelling overseas.
Air New Zealand has said it is unfair to compare the wages of the two groups because they are based on "local market relativity".
Although the New Zealand work permits held by Shanghai crew list Air New Zealand as their employer, the airline said it did not set the pay rates as the crew were employed directly by a Chinese company, Fasco, which was under contract to Air New Zealand.
Mr Little said Air New Zealand was "hiding behind the apron strings of a third-party agent".
"The end user of the labour of these people is Air New Zealand, and Air New Zealand has to take some responsibility for what is going on.
"As principal shareholder, the Government needs to make sure that the airline looks very closely at the situation and puts it right."
Mr Little said the union did not represent international flight stewards but was tipped off about the issue with China-based flight attendants in October last year.
He said he had passed it on to the Flight Attendants' Association.
The Flight Attendants Association did not return Herald calls and a spokesman for Mr Mallard said he would not comment further.
