KEY POINTS:
The proposed use of volunteers added extra tension as bosses and staff at a key regional airline met yesterday to try to resolve a bitter industrial dispute.
Air Nelson, which connects regions to main centres, has been racked by industrial action after rejecting a staff pay claim.
Unionised staff are seeking a two-year contract with increases of 5.8 per cent and 4.8 per cent, which includes catch-up payments to compensate for earlier settlements.
Air Nelson, a fully-owned subsidiary of Air New Zealand, has not agreed to the terms with the workers. Union members launched action that includes engineers and flight operations staff striking four days every fortnight and customer service staff and loaders refusing to de-ice aircraft in the morning, train and do overtime.
In response, Air Nelson used Air NZ managers and non-unionised staff to fill gaps left by the strikers such as the loading of fish under contract.
These contingency plans upset the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU), representing many of the workers, and it went to the Employment Relations Authority seeking an injunction against the practice. It was knocked back.
It then appealed to the Employment Court and was granted the injunction preventing Air Nelson using other Air NZ staff to fill the gaps.
Air Nelson general manager John Hambleton could not be reached for comment yesterday but has stated publicly that volunteers within the Air NZ workforce may now be used to load freight into aircraft at Nelson Airport.
EPMU national aviation organiser Strachan Crang said: "We can't see that there can be volunteers and we'll be putting that in front of the court, because if there is an employment relationship between the volunteers and Air NZ, they are then in contempt of the injunction that has been put on them.
"They can only use Air Nelson employees. They can't come in and bring a gang of people and start employing them."
The union was keeping an eye out for any use of volunteers.
Mr Crang said he understood Air Nelson was struggling to keep up the normal freight service with the industrial action taking place.
Air Nelson has picked up work of collapsed airline Origin Pacific.
