Air NZ pay ‘going rate'

Air New Zealand was paying the going rate for Chinese crew working the route to Shanghai in the same way it would pay a different rate for British flight crew based in London, Prime Minister Helen Clark says.

Labour Minister Trevor Mallard has asked the Department of Labour to look into disparities between Air New Zealand staff based in China and here.

On Saturday, former immigration minister Tuariki John Delamere labelled the state airline a ‘‘flying sweat shop'' for paying Chinese flight attendants on Auckland-Shanghai services little more than a quarter of their New Zealand colleagues' wages.

He said the majority Government-owned airline hired more than 30 Chinese workers.

The Weekend Herald quoted an Air New Zealand official as saying the Chinese workers were not employed directly by the airline but were seconded by a Chinese company, Fasco, which set their salaries based on market relativity in China.

But this prompted Mr Delamere to also query whether Air New Zealand had made a ‘‘false declaration'' if it had applied to Australian authorities for transit visas for Chinese crew.

He produced an application form in which it said staff were employees of Air New Zealand.

Alliance Party co-leader Victor Billot said the low pay issue was a ‘‘red alert'' to workers about what free trade deals would mean for New Zealand when ‘‘inferior conditions, contracting out, aggressive corporates and a hands-off approach'' by the Government would push down wages and conditions for workers.

He predicted the next step would be for Air NZ to contract out all its international and domestic flight crews to Chinese labour hire agencies.

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