An Air New Zealand union group representing flight attendants argued its employer breached an agreement by falling short of providing free hotel breakfasts. The Employment Relations Authority ruled in favour of the airline, which had denied there was a breach. The union group said they were “disappointed” with the decision and “will appeal”.
A union group representing hundreds of Air New Zealand flight attendants plans to appeal a tribunal decision that ruled in favour of the airline regarding a dispute over free hotel breakfasts. Air New Zealand was accused of breaching a Strategic Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (SPMoU) - an agreement it has had with the member-operated union Flight Attendants’ Association of New Zealand (FAANZ) since it was formed in 2020 - as well as its Collective Agreement and other obligations. The union, comprising more than 840 members, argued at a hearing on May 15 with the Employment Relations Authority the SPMoU meant the airline agreed to provide free-of-charge (FOC) breakfasts exclusively to its members when they stayed at hotels while working on the wide-body B787 and B777 aircraft - and that they had been doing so for more than a year.
FAANZ argued Air NZ was now only providing free breakfasts at some hotels and extending the benefit to E tū - another union representing flight attendants with around 600 members - which it considered a breach of its agreement..
