'It felt as if we did not comply, our livelihood would be taken forcibly from us,' one pilot says
More than 30 employees of Air New Zealand have taken the company to the Employment Court over its vaccination policy during COVID-19, according to reports.
A six-day hearing began on Monday to hear the grievances of 33 employees who are challenging the company's mandatory jab policy, Radio New Zealand reported.
Charlotte Parkhill, the lawyer representing the employees, opened their case asking whether employers can lawfully adopt a vaccination policy.
She also asked if it was lawful and reasonable for Air NZ to implement the policy during the circumstances at that time, Stuff reported.
According to the lawyer, these questions were of fundamental importance and not just important for questions of law.
"They involve the intersection between basic human rights, health and safety, and employment law," she said as quoted by Stuff.
Air NZ introduced a vaccination policy in 2021, mandating employees to get the COVID-19 jabs by November 14. The mandate covered pilots, cabin crew, as well as other customer-facing staff of the airline.
The company's policy had a consultation process with those who refused the jabs, with their jobs to be dependent on whether there were other available roles in their airline.
The airline also allowed employees to take unpaid leave if they wanted to wait until another brand of the jabs was available.
David Morgan, the airline's chief operational integrity and safety officer, said the company's jab mandate was one of the first of such policies introduced in New Zealand.
But years later, the mandate is now the subject of a case at the Employment Court, with Parkhill saying the 33 employees who refused the jabs had a "torrid time" at work.
"They have been labelled 'anti-vaxxers' and lumped in with people who have other views which may not align with the mainstream," Parkhill said as quoted by Stuff.
"However, all of our clients are intelligent, professional individuals who researched the vaccine and made a decision based on the best information that they had before them at the time regarding their own health."
Among the employees challenging the mandate is aircraft engineer Ian Glenister, who was not permitted to work in November 2021 after the mandate took effect.
Glenister, who had medical-related reservations about the jabs, likened the mandatory vaccinations to Air NZ "holding a gun to its employees' heads."
"But [Air NZ] wouldn't take responsibility if someone was injured with the vaccine," the aircraft engineer added.
He was only able to return to work in July 2022 after the rules eased and after he had natural immunity after contracting COVID-19.
Glenister, however, noted that some of his colleagues were nervous to work with him and others who were unvaccinated.
"This was something Air New Zealand should have managed and not shifted on to us as a responsibility," he said as quoted by Stuff.
Another plaintiff in the case is Airbus pilot Captain Leif Fredricsen, who refused the Pfizer vaccine in 2021, which left him on paid leave until January 2022 and on unpaid leave from February 2022.
Radio New Zealand reported that Fredricsen has since received the Novavax jab and has resumed work in April 2023.
The pilot, however, criticised the company's vaccination policy for seeming to focus more on business continuity rather than employee safety.
"It felt as if we did not comply, our livelihood would be taken forcibly from us," he said as quoted by RNZ.
