industrial action - the real story

Just a quick post to set the record straight for all of those who may be confused about the "industrial action" spin put out by QAN in regards to pilots.

QAN Long-Haul pilots have not been disrupting QAN's operations as they would have the general public believe. FACT: QAN Long-Haul pilots have continued to work as per normal ops since December 2010 when their EBA was due to be renewed. Despite almost 12 months of negotiations with the company, no result yet as we all know. During this time, the only minimal action QAN pilots have taken is to wear a red tie instead of black, stating the words QANTAS FLIGHT, QANTAS PILOT. The other minor action has been to make onboard announcements asking the public to support their case for a QANTAS FLIGHT, QANTAS PILOT outcome by visiting www.qantaspilot.com.au.

That is it folks, no walking off the job, no refusing to work, no stop work meetings ...... Forget the QAN spin, this grounding of the QAN fleet and lockout of QAN pilots was totally over the top and designed to make the general public believe that they had no other course of action. Truth is, as management, they failed to manage in good faith and the comments posted on HC are probably on the money, it is all about setting up other LCC's in Asia and then getting around the Qantas sale act legislation. Sad really.

So if talking about this issue with your friends or colleagues, remind them that this was not a rebelious greedy grab for money by the pilots (3% is hardly excessive considering that the offical CPI for fiscal year 2010-2011 was 3.5%). Rather, this has been all about the company trying to make the pilots look greedy and unprofessional so that QAN management can justify shipping its workforce offshore. IMO QAN pilots have been conservative and professional in their approach to negotiating the EBA.They have been patient, acted in good faith and continued doing what they do best, fly planes and get people safely back home to their loved ones. Something I do not begrudge them getting well paid for.

Surfrat.