Cabin crew to strike

The union representing Air New Zealand cabin crews have announced that all flight attendants will stage a strike on 7 May 2009. Air New Zealand managers and union representatives claim that negotiations between the two sides have failed to reach an agreement over increased pay for cabin crews. With no further talks scheduled to take place, airline officials stated that they are making preparations for the strike action. The 240 flight attendants are set to stage the strike over the next four days, while Air New Zealand has planned to operate all flights with normal service using management and other staff members as replacement cabin crews. The flight attendant's union has warned that it will stage further strike actions to disrupt airline services and force company managers back to the negotiating table.