Shanghaiist: Air New Zealand a 'flying sweatshop' for its Shanghai crew?

Kenneth T

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:36:09 +0800

FYI: The case was publicised by the ex flight attendant Crystal Zeng who took her case to Tuariki John Delamere, the former NZ Immigration Minister who is now an immigration consultant.

Peijin Chen

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:17:30 +0800

i'd have to agree with Les and skaching, and I don't see why signing a work contract implies that you are morally obliged not to complain. According to the post, the complaint was publicized by a NZ politician, NOT by the chinese themselves. Furthermore, his allegation was that they were getting paid lower than the NZ minimum wage. The principle that different labor markets=different wages is basic economics and a truism in this world--however, if NZ law says that all employees of the airlines have to be paid min wage or above, then it's a straightforward legal issue. Is the company breaking the law, or not? On a broader level, it would be *nice* for the company to show a little generosity. Les is right, i think, to bring up the issue of CEO pay and minimum wage versus a living wage, because that is the larger context that many of us from Western countries live with.

skaching

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:46:06 +0800

if you are unhappy with your pay you could quit or you could organize and demand higher pay. for sure the company will try to screw you if they can get away with it, that's life. but organizing resistance to getting screwed is also part of life. i'm sure the tickets aren't cheaper if you fly on a plane with chinese staff, so they have legit beef in my opinion. if they are successful in getting more money it will benefit them and all the future air nz chinese staff. sure domestic pay is even lower, and that is even more of a bummer because flights in china aren't all that cheap either. you can fly within europe for similar prices using discount airlines. you can talk about the macro shit forever but what it comes down to is: do you want more of your money going to the ceo or to the flight crew? i'm sure the ceo will be rich regardless but a little more money makes a big difference if you aren't making much. i say hook the people up. not a damn thing wrong with collectively renegotiating a contract.

Les Izmore

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:04:09 +0800

EL JEFE; I never advanced "the notion that business in general is evil" nor do I "dream of someday living in a world powered only by good vibes, etc, and so forth." The fact that business looks to the bottom line should be well known, even by people who love business. The fact that workers need to join together to get more of the wealth that they create by their labor is also seemingly obvious. Its how the world works. I was expressing my disbelief that the folks reaming the underpaid Chinese workers understood the reasons behind their complaints. 'Greedy workers' is right up there with 'pilot error' when it comes to the workplace and its vicissitudes.

joansh

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 22:48:36 +0800

although i know when you compare to other FAs based in other countries,we will feel it's unfair, but it's life. At least it's much cheaper to live here. I hope this works and makes their salary higher, then our company maybe will consider rise our salary too, ^_^ (not possible,haha)

joansh

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 22:41:16 +0800

this salary is already much more than domestic airlines in China. And for base salary is not too bad at all, because for FA,we have a lot of allowance, and good benefits like free tickets every year,some extra annual leave days every year, and family can have very cheap flight tickets too. But that's true, we have to work very hard for it, but it's the reality. And they should know everything before they signed the contract,if you are not happy, then quit, find a better airline to work for.Nothing need to complain, because if you don't do it, lots of girls still want to do it,right? I am happy with what I have now. The only bad thing about FASCO, the chinese company is, if you are in this airline now, you can't apply for other airlines until you quit yoru current job first, that makes a lot ppl afraid to quit. And also, every foreign airlines can't come to China to hire FA directly, have to go through them, that's the law. Btw,I don't believe 18RMB/per hour is true, I think it's ground duty allowance, in-flight hour allowance must be much higher than that.

fjiofojif

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:01:27 +0800

65 kuai/hr. for the New Zealand employees is also really shit. I don't know about working for an airline, I imagine that the workers are still often based in their home countries, & 65/hr. in New Zealand gets about the same or even less than 18kuai/hr. in Shanghai.

EL JEFE

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:48:47 +0800

An interesting detail would be to compare this to what the average (bilingual?) domestic airline employee gets paid in China. To Les: I don't buy the notion that business in general is evil. To the specific point, when I try to imagine what might be a big, evil corporation, Air New Zeland is hardly it. Bigger than one disgruntled employee, yes, therefore evil and corporate. China has enough problems with consumer prices already. I also dream of someday living in a world powered only by good vibes, etc, and so forth. I especially like the second link where the lady is surprised and upset that her New Zeland work permit was revoked once she quit. Hope for her sake that her next employer doesn't do any reference checks

taihanasie

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:33:10 +0800

They should be paid a little less than the New Zealand-based staff. Most international companies adjust the salaries of workers according to what country they are based in or where they were hired. This is standard practice, and it makes sense. What makes this hard for a flight attendant is that they are so often required to travel. I can understand the feeling of hardship. I am surprised Air New Zealand doesn't have any sort of vouchers in place for foreign travel or something similar. I am not sure if this is done in airlines, but it would make sense. They could find a way to adjust salaries to where flight attendants live while ensuring they at least had enough money to eat and move around while abroad.

Les Izmore

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:52:28 +0800

Solidarity forever! Nice to see the harshness in full flow here. I guess you folks believe that unions keep wages low because companies can't afford to pay the high ones they demand. I'll bet that if this is true the Shanghainese can seek legal restitution somehow. International aviation is regulated to some degree. Still it is amazing to see so many folks siding strongly with the corporation in its relentless pursuit of the bottom line against the lowly worker. You should remember the old saying, the rich man is not your friend...

jenming

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:39:08 +0800

FASCO? more like FIASCO! right? yeah? innit? but jefe's right. THEY SIGNED THE CONTRACTS. If their pay is under what the contract says, then that's another story. Otherwise there's a signature showing that they knew exactly what they were getting into. They live in Shanghai, where cost of living, and average wages are different than NZ. If they were just to visit NZ as tourists, there would be the same difference in their spending power. The fact that they're surrounded by people who come from different places is what makes them unhappy. Keeping up with the Joneses.

T

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:20:20 +0800

Tesco?

WatchBagDVD

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:37:40 +0800

FIASCO

vladivostok

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:32:53 +0800

it's FASCO, which is different from FESCO.

nanheyangrouchuan

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:45:10 +0800

Haven't Chinese learned by now that foreign companies come to China to work them hard for tiny wages?

Bumix

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:39:01 +0800

An hourly rate of 18rmb for a flight attendant?! That's ridiculous and of course they should complain! And you others better show some damn sympathy, since these people have a shitload of responsibility for a whole plane full of people. When they close the door you don't want it to open in flight later because they didnt get a meal at the hotel and worked sloppy! Also how can you as a foreigner be happy with these low wages in China? You better hope they will rise soon, or there will be no jobs left in your country.

stoli

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:40:55 +0800

i agree with el jefe, mostly. the only counter argument i can think of is perhaps the shanghainese staff didn't realize/weren't told of the difference in purchasing power parity outside of china. most average earning chinese people are stunned when i tell them that their monthly salaries will only get them 3 or 4 meals in restaurant where i'm from.

EL JEFE

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:08:33 +0800

Boo fricking hoo: call Upton Sinclair. Didn't they know their salaries when they signed their employment contracts? If they aren't happy, they should just quit. For every one victim, I'll give you 1M other people in China that would gladly take that job for even less money and appreciate the chance to visit Middle Earth. I also thought it was FESCO, not FASCO.