Minister hopes Air Tahiti strikes will end this weekend

Transcript

French Polynesia's Tourism Minister says strikes at Air Tahiti could end today or tomorrow.

The strikes over cuts to hours for staff are entering their fourth week, hampering domestic travel.

Jean-Christophe Bouissou told Lucy Smith about the current situation.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOUISSOU: Some of the workers of Air Tahiti are still on strike today. The last information the we have the government can suppose the strike will stop today or tomorrow because they're having a discussion and mainly these points are on reduction on the number of hours some of the workers of the island. French Polynesia has almost 60 airports over the islands and these workers with the changes on the lines will have to change their times of work.
So we have a good chance to get out the discussions today.

LUCY SMITH: So will there be a compromise and people aren't going to lose their jobs to end the strike

JCB:  People aren't going to lose their jobs. Just some reduction on the hours with the workers. Let's say some of the islands will have like one or two lanes during the week, and when they were hired they had 3 or 4.   

LS:  People's hours aren't going to be reduced in order to stop the strike?

JCB: We'll have to do that anyway. So it's not a matter of all the workers you see, It's a matter of about 100  of them over the islands who have a reduction on their salary.  We hope that maybe in the future they will be able to take back
on that salary.

LS: Why would they stop striking today then?  

JCB: Well it's been like three weeks, so they have to decide whether they keep going on or if during the discussion with managers of the company, they will also have some compromise and also some points that show the direction of the company. I don't have as my, I'm the minister of tourism so I'm not in the discussion but we know they're getting together to make a deal.