Air NZ staff tell Aussies to cool down

By Phil Boeyen, ShareChat Business News Editor

Tuesday 18th September 2001

Unions representing Air New Zealand (NZSE: AIRVA) workers are asking their Australian counterparts to lay off threatening tactics which could put their jobs in jeopardy.

Council of Trade Unions president, Ross Wilson, says he has asked the Australian unions to give Air New Zealand breathing space so it can get back into business and protect 9,000 jobs presently at risk.

" I have spoken today with the president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions and she has assured me that the ACTU does not wish to jeopardize the jobs of Air New Zealand workers and that the issue of entitlements needs to be addressed politically."

The CTU is calling for urgent support for a recovery plan for the airline.

"Air New Zealand staff are very worried about the precarious position of the company but are confident that it can trade profitably if it gets strong support from shareholders and the government, and if the Australian unions give us a break," says Mr Wilson.

Mr Wilson is also urging the Australian government to acknowledge some leadership on the Ansett workers' entitlements issue and to initiate a trans-Tasman political solution which would involve Air New Zealand and others who may have a responsibility.

Earlier Tuesday Finance Minister Michael Cullen hinted at a press conference that the government may move to take an equity stake in the airline if its current offer of $550 million in loans isn't enough to keep the business going.

"...we might look at ways in which some of that was convertible and therefore convertible into equity but lets go through that process of due diligence before we start [going there]," he told reporters.

"I have no doubt that at the end of the day there will be an Air New Zealand but the government has to act in a way that ensures that will happen without simply becoming the protector of the major shareholders in the company.

"It's not the public interest simply to make sure that they're protected. Our interest is to make sure that AN Air New Zealand operates."

Meanwhile the Australian government is reported to be going ahead with the proposal for an A$10 levy on all domestic air tickets to cover some of the money owed to Ansett workers, with legislation expected to be approved this week.

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