“WE are absolutely disappointed with the way Air Terminal Services management has handled events which have led to workers being locked out for the past 28 days.”
This was the statement of two founders of ATS, Rodwell Charles Campbell, 66, and Waisea Naigulevu, 78. The duo were part of thouands of people who took part in a march through Nadi Town in support of the more than 200 ATS workers who are not at work because of a dispute with management.
Mr Campbell said the atmosphere at Nadi International Airport was very different in the ’70s and early ’80s.
“I joined the company when it was still under Qantas in October 1973 and retired in 2012,” he said.
“When I retired, I was a ramp supervisor and we were very proud of the fact that we working for a company that we had 49 per cent shares in.
“We used to have a lot of industrial action in the ’70s and early ’80s and along the way we established a lot of mechanisms to address our issues with management.
“And things worked very well until this management team came in. We are absolutely disappointed with the way things were handled in this case because the mechanisms that we had in place were not followed by management.”
Mr Naigulevu joined ATS in 1969 when the company operated under Qantas and retired in 2005 when he turned 60.
Questions sent to ATS acting CEO Hare Mani about the comments made by Mr Campbell and Mr Naigulevu remain unanswered when this edition went to press.
