Auckland Airport has welcomed the announcement by Philippine Airlines that it will introduce a direct flight on its Manila to Auckland route.
From December 2017 Philippine Airlines will be the first airline to fly non-stop from Manila to Auckland using a 254-seat Airbus A340 aircraft. The direct flight will replace the current Manila to Auckland via Cairns service.
Scott Tasker, Auckland Airport’s general manager aeronautical commercial, says the new non-stop service will add more than 14,000 seats to the route, increasing seat capacity by 22%, and inject $13.6 million annually into the New Zealand economy.
“With more than 7,000 tropical islands, the Philippines is a popular destination and last year nearly 30,000 New Zealanders travelled there.
“The direct flight will also enable New Zealanders to connect to the 73 destinations on the Philippine Airlines network including the United Kingdom, Asia, North America and the Middle East,” says Mr Tasker.
“More than 40,000 Filipinos live in New Zealand and will now be able to fly non-stop to and from the Philippines. It will also accommodate the growing number of Filipino visitors who are holidaying or visiting friends and family in New Zealand.”
Introducing a larger aircraft on the route will also allow for an additional 14 tonnes of cargo capacity per flight. In the year ended March 2017, New Zealand exported $468m of dairy products to the Philippines, making it the eighth largest market for dairy exports.
| An Auckland Airport release || August 17, 2017 |||
Kel has been organising and escorting groups to sporting events worldwide for the past 40 years! The Melbourne Cup is a personal favourite, and he can't wait to accompany the next group to his 37th Cup event!
So what makes Kel's Melbourne Cup tour package so special? It's the passion, for starters, as well as being accompanied by the legendary Des Coppins, both of whom go the extra mile to ensure tour members have an enjoyable and memorable experience.
In fact, Kel recalls with much delight, one particular tour. He often receives requests to accommodate solo travellers who prefer to share a room and generally tries his best to match up age and personality. On this trip, at breakfast after the first night, Kel was approached by one such tour member who asked "where the hell did you find my room mate?". When Kel dug deeper, it turned out the room mate snored horrendously. Kel offered to find him a single room, but he said he'd give it one more night and see how things went.
After breakfast the following day, Kel approached the gentleman and asked how his night had been. His response had Kel in fits: "No problem. i think i have sorted it." Kel dug deeper and the explanation was: "Being a bit of a night owl, I stayed out longer than my room mate. When I let myself into the room, my room mate was in bed reading. I went to the bathroom and got myself ready for bed ... but before turning my bed light off, I lent down and gave my room mate a peck on the cheek and said 'sleep well, dear'. Well, I slept like a log but I don't know about him - he must have been awake all night because i never heard any snoring!"
While the Melbourne Cup race is obviously the big drawcard, these tours do include a lot more! This year, just some of the tour highlights they have lined up include:
At this stage, there are a mix of folk from all ages booked into the tour, including horse trainers, horse owners and everyday racegoers.
And you may just be on a winning streak if you take the advice of Des' good friend, Brett Davison. Brett is a leading Australian racing tipster, and both he and Des will offer their tips for picking a winner. In fact, their tipping sheets are given to tour members on the bus trip to the racecourse each year. Over the years, they have picked many winners at very lucrative odds!
The tours are always fun, action packed and thoroughly memorable ... will you be on the next one? If you're keen, get in touch soon as spaces are limited!
A Mondo Travel release || August 16, 2017 |||
Fiji Airways has launched Bula Bid, an auction tool that allows Economy Class customers to bid for upgrades to Business Class on international flights. Passengers can bid for an upgrade between seven days and 24 hours before their scheduled flight departure.
Bids can be made at www.bulabid.com using the Upgrade Now auction system. Successful bidders are notified through a confirmation email 24 hours before their scheduled flight and unsuccessful bidders will not be charged. The quantity of successful bids is dependent on a number of factors, including seat availability and the number of offers for each flight.
Andre Viljoen, Fiji Airways Managing Director and CEO, said: “This new product is designed to give our Economy Class guests the chance to enjoy our renowned Business Class experience. Interest among guests for Bula Bid has been extremely high during the soft-launch period, and we are delighted to roll it out formally now across our international networks.”
Successful bidders will experience Fiji Airways’ Business Class product as well as the Business Class airport experience.
As FTE reported last year, upgrade auction tools are becoming an increasingly popular way for airlines to monetise unsold premium seats.
| An FTE release || August 17, 2017 |||
Blueprint for rapid rail service across the upper North Island
Reducing harm from hazardous substances
Prefab housing set to play bigger role in Housing NZ builds
A new airport for the whole Bay of Plenty?
Freightways buys Australian medical waste service for as much as A$10M
In an article published on Newsroom this morningCatriona MacLennan challenges the Government's mantra that work lifts families out of poverty, arguing that the spread of labour hire work at the expense of permanent employment exacerbates the problem
Hard-won employment protections achieved over more than a century are being eroded by the emergence of labour hire companies in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and elsewhere.
These companies operate as intermediaries between workers and the organisations for which work is carried out. Examples are cleaning, airline catering and airport baggage safety officers.
Instead of being employed by the business for which they are working, workers are contracted to that company through labour hire and temping firms. The aim is to cut costs for businesses. Firms do not have to provide full-time or a regular number of work hours. Nor do they need to pay holiday pay, sick pay or superannuation contributions. Workers might be required to pay for their own equipment and safety boots, as well as ACC levies. And there is no obligation to promote staff and pay higher wages as employees become more senior.
However, for the workers, this means low wages, no job security and insecure hours of work – and hence income – from week to week.
Labour hire firms receive “sign on” bonuses of several thousand dollars from the business. The labour hire firm also charges the business an hourly rate for each worker which is significantly higher than the rates paid to workers – perhaps $3 above the minimum wage.
As a result, in New Zealand, people now work alongside each other doing exactly the same tasks, but under vastly different conditions. Employees have regular hours and ongoing work, while the labour hire workers have no security and are generally paid several dollars an hour less than their colleagues.
Many labour hire workers are migrants, who have little bargaining power and often are not aware of New Zealand employment law.
A legal challenge to labour hire work began in the Employment Court at Auckland on 14 August 2017.
The case is brought by E Tū union in the names of two workers. The defendant is LSG Sky Chefs New Zealand Ltd, which is owned by German airline Lufthansa and runs airline catering kitchens in Queenstown, Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland.
Two labour hire firms, Solutions Personnel Ltd and Blue Collar Ltd, are named as third parties in the case.
Approximately 200 temporary workers are contracted to LSG Sky Chefs through the third parties. Many are paid only the minimum wage and do not have security of employment.
The workers are seeking a declaration under section 6(5) of the Employment Relations Act 2000 that they are in fact employees of LSG Sky Chefs. They claim that, although they signed a contract with Solutions Personnel which was expressed to be a contract for services, they were in fact employed by LSG Sky Chefs.
The hearing is expected to finish on August 18.
Many parents work two or three jobs to try and support their families but the minimum wage of $15.75 an hour is simply not enough to live on. The spread of labour hire work at the expense of permanent employment is exacerbating this precarious existence for some families.
There are also attempts in other countries to deal with the erosion of pay and other workers’ rights linked to the use of labour hire companies.
These have been prompted by alarm at the spread of labour hire. In 2012, there were estimated to be 36 million temporary workers worldwide, with 11.5 million of them employed daily as agency workers. The United States had 11.5 million agency workers, while Europe had 8.2 million and Brazil 7.1 million.
The European Union in 2008 issued Directive 2008/104/EC on temporary agency work. This was designed to provide protection to agency workers: it states that the basic work and employment conditions of agency workers should be at least those of employees.
However, the way in which courts in different European Union nations have interpreted the directive has largely undermined its effectiveness. Instead of focusing on its purpose, courts have concentrated on the word “temporary” and held that the directive applies only to short-term work.
One example of this is a court case in the United Kingdom in 2013, which aimed to provide rights to agency cleaners who had worked for a firm for between six and 25 years without ever obtaining the security of permanent employment.
The court held that regulations made under the European Union directive applied only to workers placed for a fixed period with a firm. If they were there indefinitely, they did not come within the ambit of the law.
One lawyer described the decision as driving a “coach and horses” through the protection intended to be given to agency workers.
In Canada’s Ontario, there was a 33 percent increase in temporary workers in the decade to 2014. That growth was double the rise in the number of permanent employees in that time and the wages of the temporary workers were significantly lower. In 2015, the median wage of a temporary worker in Toronto was C$15 an hour, while permanent employees were paid $22.40.
Ontario passed the Stronger Workplaces for a Stronger Economy Act 2014, aiming to provide legal protection to agency workers. Earlier this year, Bradford City Council voted to end its use of temporary staffing agencies, with councillors blaming the businesses for trapping workers in a cycle of poverty and insecurity.
In South Africa, labour hire is known as “labour broking” and has caused concern for many years.
A law which took effect in 2015 aimed to curb temporary employment services and give additional protections to vulnerable workers. It has been challenged by labour brokers.
New Zealand has seen a fall in real wages in recent decades and increasing insecurity of employment for workers.
Despite a growing economy, real average private sector wages in this country dropped by 0.5 percent in the 12 months to June 2017.
The Government’s mantra is that work lifts families out of poverty.
Sadly, that is no longer the case in New Zealand. Many parents work two or three jobs to try and support their families but the minimum wage of $15.75 an hour is simply not enough to live on.
The spread of labour hire work at the expense of permanent employment is exacerbating this precarious existence for some families.
The test case brought by E Tū will demonstrate how much protection current laws can provide to agency workers, or whether law reform is needed.
* Catriona MacLennan is a barrister and journalist and carried out research for the plaintiffs in this case.
| A Newsroom release || August 17, 2017 |||
Two prominent New Zealand wineries have been acquired by a newly-established fine wine company co-founded by the man who launched Craggy Range and a US-based wildlife conservationist.
Pyramid Valley Vineyards in Waikari, North Canterbury, and Lowburn Ferry Wines, Central Otago, have both become the first purchases of Aotearoa New Zealand Fine Wine Estates Limited Partnership (ANZFWE) – a new venture between Brian Sheth, sole director of US-based Sangreal Wines LLC, and Steve Smith MW, sole director of LandbaseWineNZ Ltd.
Mr Sheth is an investor and wildlife conservationist from Austin, Texas, while Steve Smith, is well-known for having led the development of Craggy Range, based in Hawkes Bay and Martinborough, having co-founded the brand with owner Terry Peabody in 1998.
Pyramid Valley Wines is one of the frontrunners of New Zealand’s growing biodynamic movement, founded by Claudia Weersing and her husband Mike in 2000. Their 2.2 hectare biodynamic vineyard is planted with four separate blocks of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with the aim of replicating the Burgundian model, which produces four wines; Earth Smoke Pinot Noir, Angel Flower Pinot Noir, Lion’s Tooth Chardonnay and Field of Fire Chardonnay.
It is a further sign of the growing confidence in the winemaking region of North Canterbury, which encompasses the Waipara and Waitaki Valley, located on the south island north of Christchurch. The region accounts for just 1,419 hectares of vineyards and is home to dozens of boutique producers who together produce just 3% of New Zealand’s annual production.
Lowburn Ferry meanwhile, based in Central Otago, was founded by Roger and Jean Gibson in 2000 with a focus on Pinot Noir. Jean holds a degree in Horticultural Science while Roger, who holds a Masters degree in Applied Science, also works part-time as a tutor in the viticulture/horticulture department of the Otago Polytechnic, specialising in soils and plant science. The couple’s wines are made under the direction of chief winemaker Peter Bartle.
“We are delighted that the Gibsons will remain living on this great Central Otago Pinot Noir vineyard as we create new vineyards and establish a winery on the property and have access to Roger’s science and natural ecology background on our estates,” said Smith.
ANZFWE has also secured the purchase of a small piece of land in the Gimblett Gravels Wine Growing District in Hawke’s Bay.
Leading ANZFWE as its chief executive will be Michael Henley, who has spent the past five years as CEO of Hawke’s Bay winery Trinity Hill.
“It will simply be fantastic to have Mike on board as a partner and to work alongside him again following the almost 10 years we spent together at Craggy Range,” added Smith.
The sale of the two wineries are subject to the approval of the New Zealand Government’s Overseas Investment Office, with each business continuing to operate under the direction of their existing owners until this process is completed.
| A The DrinksBusiness release || August 16, 2017 |||