Air New Zealand wins pay fight with pilots' union

Air New Zealand has won a Supreme Court pay fight with the country's biggest pilots' union. The dispute concerned whether the New Zealand Air Line Pilots Association was able to take clauses from collective agreements Air New Zealand made with other unions and incorporate these into its own members' agreement with the national carrier. The New Zealand Air Line Pilots Association (NZALPA) was formed in 1945 and about three quarters of the country's pilots are members. 84% of Air New Zealand's pilots are NZALPA's members. The NZALPA's collective agreement contains a ratchet clause, where the parties agree that "any agreement entered into by the company with any other pilot employee group which is more favourable than provided for in this agreement will be passed on to pilots covered by this agreement." The union invoked this clause when it wanted to claim a more favourable pay rise for pilots of Boeing 737s and second officers after Air New Zealand had agreed with the Federation of Air New Zealand Pilots (FANZP), a newer and smaller union, to provide a pay rise of 13 per cent, more than the NZALPA collective agreement provided for. Air New Zealand declined on the basis that the proper interpretation of this clause was that it allowed passing on the whole of the collective agreement and not just of particular parts.<br/>