Laying Them Off

The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union has been reported to be taking action against Air New Zealand in an effort to save the jobs of a significant number of workers that are employed by the airline, but who have recently been told that they are going to be laid off as a result of cost-cutting moves of outsourcing being performed by the company. In recognition of Air New Zealand's apparent slipping commercial status, the increasing competitiveness emerging in the industry in the wake of the events of 11 September, 2001, and the fact that New Zealanders are more expensive to employ than many overseas workers, heavy aircraft maintenance roles are being outsourced to operations in other nations, primarily China.

As a result it can be expected that the six hundred and seventeen skilled New Zealand workers standing to lose their jobs are going to end up in a situation where it is substantially more difficult for them to put food on their families' tables. It also highlights a distinct attitude in the upper echelons of the company that it is very much the case that not much value ought to be placed on the individual situations of the workers. Undeniably, the airline is of national importance, being New Zealand's primary flag carrier within the industry, and as such it can be confidently said that its wellbeing must be maintained. However, it is also undeniable that this maintenance of corporate wellbeing must not be enacted at skilled workers' expenses.

It was identified, when this cost-cutting measure was first announced by company management, that Helen Clark had received documentation that would have rendered her aware of the airline's apparently-dire financial situation and the fact that it was planning to embark on the laying off of several hundred workers. This obviously put her and the only-just-confirmed Labour-led coalition government in an awkward situation in which they were expected to take some sort of action in the interests of New Zealanders, or at least to acknowledge the fact that the state of the company was partly the government's responsibility. The government, of course, bailed the airline out of a negative financial situation in recent years via buying a significant proportion of the company shares and rendering itself a majority shareholder.


Despite the perception being valid that the government's status in terms of its partial ownership of Air New Zealand should essentially afford to it a degree of responsibility in the maintenance of the company's viability -- particularly considering that the shares were purchased in the first place with that intention in mind -- it has been confirmed recently that the government is hesitant to take such a position. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Michael Cullen cites the reason for this hesitation as being a concern that numerous companies in New Zealand would be "lining up for restructuring" if such a helping hand were to be given to Air New Zealand in the (apparently mere) interests of protecting the company's engineers' jobs. This could be perceived as surprising, given that Labour governments past have already shown favourable feelings towards helping Air New Zealand, and that the airline's significance to the nation is widely acknowledged.

One of the most displeasing aspects of this significant venture into sacrificial competitiveness in which Air New Zealand management is engaging is that the company has made the decision to explain to budding engineers studying under the support of Air New Zealand-funded scholarships that they are each now not guaranteed a job in the company's engineering division. Of course, the reason for the engineering students having to be told this is that their jobs are now destined to be handed over to Chinese workers who may well be made to carry out the same tasks as New Zealanders would have, but for a fraction of the cost to the company. It's exponentially unfortunate that this announcement of job position losses has come right at the end of the year; a year which many of the students will now, no doubt, feel has completely and utterly been put to waste.