MEDIUM and short-haul pilots at Virgin Australia are headed back to the negotiating table after turning down pay and conditions they saw as too far below those paid to pilots at rival Qantas.
More than 60 per cent of the airline's pilot group voted against the enterprise bargaining agreement amid a power struggle and conflicting recommendations from competing union groups.
The company and the Australian Federation of Air Pilots expressed disappointment that the deal was solidly rejected by the 62 per cent no vote.
The company said the deal included increased flexible working arrangements, job security commitments and a competitive remuneration package.
"It is disappointing that a proposed replacement EBA covering our short and medium-haul pilots has not seen sufficient support," a spokeswoman said.
"We will continue discussions with the relevant unions."
The pilot negotiations are muddied at Virgin because of the rivalry between the AFAP and VIPA, a group associated with the Qantas-based Australian and International Pilots Association.
VIPA executive director Simon O'Hara said the association had recommended against accepting the proposal because it believed there needed to be a better deal put on the table.
"What we're saying essentially is that Virgin Australia's bank statement is back in the black in good part because of the effort of the loyal workforce and that loyal workforce needs to be paid accordingly," Mr O'Hara said.
He said VIPA believed it could work collaboratively with management to match the competition, but he believed Virgin could afford a better offer.
He said the union was unhappy with the remuneration offered and the way in which the EBA negotiations had concluded with the addition of last-minute amendments.
He would not quantify the difference between the union and company on pay, but said the pilots were not necessarily looking for parity with Qantas.
"Our pilots are open to negotiations and we're not going to be churlish about this, but what we're not about and what we're not going to do is have a race to the bottom for pay and conditions," Mr O'Hara said. "We think that if our pilots are competing against Qantas pilots who are paid significantly more, then it's time for our pilots to be paid accordingly.
"If the main competition in the market domestically is Qantas, then it's time that the pilots who are driving the reforms and bringing forward greater competition get a share of those profits and get paid accordingly."
AFAP senior industrial officer Lawrie Cox said the union would survey pilots to see what changes they wanted in negotiations.
Mr Cox said VIPA was chasing significant increases in wages and conditions that the company had not been prepared to offer. This included issues relating to the introduction of widebody Airbus A330s.
"But their campaign against the offer that's been put out on this occasion has been successful," he said. "And that's what it comes down to. If you go in there with a wide-ranging claim and build up expectations within the pilot group, obviously when the company doesn't meet your expectations the pilot group reacts accordingly."
Mr Cox said there had been joint meetings between the two groups but the groups had ultimately differed on what should be put on the table.
He said the AFAP believed there should be a sustainable long-term document covering the business as it stood and as it grew.
Management had also indicated that the rejected agreement was the bottom line for them. "And that was the reason our negotiators endorsed the document after being there for over 12 months now," he said. "We endorsed the document, we put it out, because it was seen to be dealing with the issues with how this business runs, not just running a 'no for no's sake' campaign."
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