Zeal crew member talks about the Air NZ action

Zeal worker Rachael talks about why she and her workmates are taking action at Air New Zealand. Taken at the Wellington protest on May 7th. Read more about the work of the union at www.epmu.org.nz

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• zeal
• epmu
• strike
• lockout
• air
• nz

[2008MAMBO]

We here in the pacific are sitting here watching and looking at how you guys are behaving, especially when you land on our shores dressed ridiculously, you're so lucky you havent been laid off. Rob Fyfe is awesome and is doing his best to keep us all in a job. They all know our salary situation but what in the world do you expect them to do, AirNZ does not have the money! I think Zeal is damn lucky AirNZ took them on when Freedom Air went bust!!

[NZAEPMU]

Air New Zealand made a profit of $78 million last year. There is more than sufficient money even in a recession to address the inequity between Zeal crew and other Air NZ staff.

[michaelnz40]

Rob Fyfe has just said in his weekly blog that things are starting to look not so good for Air NZ financially with the current economic climate. He was saying that he hopes to avoid any redundancies, and is looking at ways to cut costs.

With such a situation at the moment I'd say these ZEAL 320 crew are lucky to have jobs, as am I. To get through this we're going to have to all help the company save money, otherwise people will lose jobs.

This isn't the way to go.

[NZAEPMU]

Michael, as a general rule you would also be advised not to take everything the company tells you on faith.

Last year Air NZ made a profit of $78 million. Rob Fyfe himself recently received a pay rise of 93%. There is more than sufficient money to address the unfairness at Zeal, even in a recession.

If you wish to inform yourself about the dispute before commenting further visit the EPMU website or call 0800 1 UNION.

[bigredtaxi]

@NZAEPMU

Out of curiosity, if you believe that the employees should get handouts whenever the airline makes a profit, would it also be fair for the employees to have to pay out money when the airline makes a loss?

Also, for the people who have their Super Annuation invested in AirNZ stock, would it be fair on them if you took all the company profits, and then handed those profits to the employees?

Until you start handing out money for nothing, you are in no position to ask another to

[2008MAMBO]

Obviously you dont really read much, i dont work at the hub nor do i live in NZ. If you read the comments, it will obviously hint the fact that im based in the pacific islands and if you were smart, you wont even think of trashing the pacific island stations!

[michaelnz40]

I don't work at The Hub you moron. I work at the coal face.

And with flying internationally from Hamilton, if that route doesnt make a profit despite every effort to do so, why keep flying it?

If you want to have international flights out of Hamilton then start up your own airline and do it yourself.

[cutthecrapp]

Oh, look, Air New Zealand staff from the hub have learnt how to flame Zeal crew on youtube. These must be the same people who ran away from Hamilton so a foreign airline could have it. Pity you shut down Freedom.

[2008MAMBO]

The raise Rob Fyfe got was prize money he received from the "Sexiest Businessman in NZ" that was happening earlier on in the month. I dont think Rob is that stupid to advertise that he is getting a raise while we all watch and suffer. he won that fair and square and so he should. Good on you Rob!!!

[michaelnz40]

And may I ask why I should take anything the EPMU tells me on faith?

The pay rise you talk about Rob Fyfe getting was actually an overall pay decrease because the performance incentive part of his pay was reduced due to company performance.

Yes, Air NZ made a profit last year, and that'll be needed to get us through these tough economic times, because right now they're losing money. If it got bad enough, I'd rather take a pay cut than have the company collapse and lose my job all together.

[2008MAMBO]

Im not against Zeal, i understand your situation, i just think its wrong timing thats all guys. Shucks you guys are getting NZD9000 more than what we get a year but we are just waiting for the right time. But you know what, if you guys succeed, then good on you and well done...All the best.

[2008MAMBO]

You guys think you're been treated unfairly, you have no idea how we get treated yet we wear the same uniform, just like you, we do the exact same job as a travel centre does in Auckland, our check in staff, who do the exact same job as NZ, employed directly by AirNZ, and we get nothing. Standard or cost of living here is higher than our pay! you dont see us kicking a fuss, why because we are damn lucky to even have the job, and during this time, its just not the best time to be asking.

[2008MAMBO]

Well here is what i got to say, so Michael may have been misinformed, but he still raises a point, isnt it better to have a job and actually get a pay than to screw over the hand that feeds you? And so AirNZ made a huge profit, does it mean we can just splash out on pay rises, what if the economy gets worse, what do we to fall back on. We got the aircraft fuel to think about, there are alot of things that need to be considered. Just because we made a profit doesnt mean a raise.