Question for you, say your at your current job earning $65K a year your manager says guess wot your staying on that for the next 6 years. Inflation is 3.5%. So for the next 6 years your quality of life is going to decrease because every day items are getting more expensive and your $ just don't go as far anymore.
WOULD YOU ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN TO YOU AND JEPORDISE YOUR FAMILY?
Well, that depends. How much do you want to continue flying?
Of course we all know the answer to that one. Pilots are very highly motivated and are generally used to crap conditions before they get to the airlines. Managers know this, and exploit it in pay negotiations. They also know that such a course of action as the one you describe, in no way jeapordises anybodys' family... that is just emotional nonsense. The actual dollar amount is minimal, and in any case nobody knows what inflation will be next year.
One of the features of airline pay negotiations overseas - yes, I know you don't care about anything outside NZ, but hear me out - is that the pilots have to decide just how much they can afford to lose. Some pilots will bet the farm on that 3.5%, others will tighten their belts and be damn thankful that they actually have the flying job they fought so hard to get. Generally, the latter are in the majority and when push comes to shove, that is what will undermine any union negotiations.
You might not think that international trends matter, but the fact is that Air NZ looks overseas to identify trends that it can then exploit. They are an international airline, and they employ people from countries where these things are done very differently. If you want to ignore recent history, that's fine, but your employer will always be two steps ahead of you when it comes to pay negotiations. They are looking at a much bigger picture, and they know more than you do about their business.
Let me ask you another. How would you feel if Air NZ was to close down Mt Cook, transfer the assets to Freedom Air, and re-employ the crews on new T's and C's? And if, in so doing, they were to adopt a low-cost model (a real one), which meant that if you wanted your old job back, you would have to pay for your uniform, your car park, your crew meal, your medicals and licence renewal? You see, you think you have power, but you really don't have that much.
Let's extend it a bit further. Let's say our new LCC, that used to be Mt Cook, was to ditch all the NZ pilots and hire a bunch of guys from Asia?
Before you say "it could never happen", imagine what the Ansett guys were saying before they all ended up unemployed, or the Aussie pilots were saying before they all ended up moving to Europe and Asia in '89.
Ask those guys whether it was all worth it, and see what they say.
How much do you want that flying job?
The flip side is that there is more than one way to skin a cat... and some of the Euro carriers are shining examples of what CAN be achieved if you are SMART.
I'm afraid most NZ airline pay negotiations resemble cave men armed with bludgeons. Lots of blood, but little progress.
Anyway... I support the Mt Cook guys. But I also see the situation differently.