"Fair Work decision means certainty for Qantas Frequent Flyers"

[ASG]

Have not received the email, but did get a survey on Qantas service to complete on line yesterday. Would be interesting to see the results, but probably won't be published or an edited version will appear somewhere on the Qantas website.

 

[medhead]

Seems to be that she answered her own query.....

Bout time academics started paying for travel on their own dime IMHO

Are you being sarcastic? If so ignore the rest. But the thing is the way academics and grant work these days they effectively are paying on their own dime. Researchers are royally screwed over. They have absolutely no job security if they don't get the next grant. If the grant pays for travel, that means less pay for someone.

 

[ASG]

Are you being sarcastic? If so ignore the rest. But the thing is the way academics and grant work these days they effectively are paying on their own dime. Researchers are royally screwed over. They have absolutely no job security if they don't get the next grant. If the grant pays for travel, that means less pay for someone.

I know a few researchers and they all worry about the next grants, usually in Feb or March.

 

[simongr]

As published in today's Crikey

Academic Virginia Lee got the same email, and sent one back to the CEO. No doubt Joyce hasn’t got around to reading it, so we reproduce it here:


Dear Mr Joyce,

Firstly, thank you for the update on the events as they are unfolding. But I have to advise you of the following issues that have arisen due to your recent action. While these are my personal opinions only, I must also advise that they are widely held by my colleagues in the University system and those I work with in the commercial world of practice, here and overseas.

1. I am a gold frequent flyer due to my loyalty to the Qantas brand and the fact that it is staffed by Australian pilots and serviced in Australia. I have always been willing to pay more for this surety. Your action has completely undermined this

2. Your unilateral decision to place so many people’s lives in chaos and uncertainty is unforgiveable — any loyalty to the operations and ongoing existence of Qantas as an Australian entity is trashed.

3. Despite your assurances I now have little confidence in being able to travel where I want — and while I am not entirely sympathetic with the unions I was prepared to wear the inconvenience while things were being played out through the appropriate channels. Due entirely to your actions I am currently instructing all my future travel to be arranged through Virgin Australia and via alternative international carriers. I will not be travelling on JetStar or JetScare as it is known as I’m over being treated badly.

4. We hear that you are making big losses on international routes. I have had multiple overseas journeys with you over the past few years and not once have I been anything but jammed in to fully booked planes — how can this be that you are making losses — can it be poor management decisions? I have to travel economy in the University system and I suffer for it. The time when I couldn’t fly with you due to scheduling issues, was with Cathay Pacific which was far more comfortable. Despite this I elected to remain with Qantas. Now I see no further reason to do this. You will trash the airline whether we support Qantas or not. I regard this as the Board’s and your agenda.

5. Your expansive pay rise voted in in the middle of industrial action and in the face of Occupy movements around the world in relation to corporate greed and insolence smacks of an organisation only in touch with the big business end of town and not your paying customers. As a public relations exercise this was disastrous and lost you even more support at grass roots level.

There is more but I know this will be another waste of time as I consider that Qantas management is so out of touch with the everyday existence of their customers that you will see I come from a University, brand me as left wing and ignore my opinions.

I see this is sent on a do not reply email — so even in response we customers have no voice. I have tried to find an email to send this back to you with little luck so I will send to others to see if they can find a way through your one-way firewall. Please do not email me again.

Best of luck with the future dismantling of our once great carrier and Australian icon

You’ve lost me

Yours sincerely

Professor Virginia Lee

This is great stuff - I would be laughing out loud if the little boy wasn't going to sleep!

Just to pick out a few classics - she is ok to be inconvenienced if the unions do something but not if the management do something ( was prepared to wear the inconvenience while things were being played out through the appropriate channels).

She flies QF because it is staffed by Aussies and maintained in Australia - so who will she fly now? DJ/VA is maintained overseas and was established by a Brit. CX is HKG based and partly owned by the English.

He got a pay rise "during the occupy movement" - Interesting the earliest reference to Joyce's pay rise I could quickly find was 8 Sep and the Occupy Wall Street movement started on 17 Sep. Should he have foretold the movement's rise? On a personal level I do think it was a stupid time to announce the rise but I guess it was tied to the AGM.

UNable to find Joyce's email address - I do hope she isn't a research fellow...

 

[browski]

In the world of brand perception, someone who is erroneously aggrieved, carries the same weight as someone who is genuinely aggrieved. Bizarre but true.

 

[Moopere]

This is great stuff - I would be laughing out loud

Yep I did.

 

[dfcatch]

My first reaction on receiving that email was to reply also, asking if I would be compensated for having to work on a Saturday evening to rebook our all company people who were due to fly out to New Zealand the next day for work activities. And then I saw the address "[email protected]"

That made me even angrier.:evil::evil:

Why? Since when do employees pay for their work travel?

Oh - then I guess her email is irrelevent as her employer will be making the travel arrangements for her.

IMHO - given the large taxpayer investment (and other public contributions) made to tertiary institutions - (again IMHO) a large number of academics enjoy junkets around the world (many in premium classes), many of which serve no purpose other than self-aggrandisement (is that word ) to further their own personal careers.

Now I'm generalising and there are a number of academics whose travel is of direct benefit, or who travel to speak at conferences where they make a genuine contribution to the global body of knowledge as they are the world's foremost subject matter expert in their field.

But I seriously question how many would find themselves still "needing to travel for work" if it was coming out of their own pocket - particularly with modern technology.

But - hey, I'm just jealous - I'd happily jump on the gravy train if it was offered to me

 

[dfcatch]

Are you being sarcastic? If so ignore the rest. But the thing is the way academics and grant work these days they effectively are paying on their own dime. Researchers are royally screwed over. They have absolutely no job security if they don't get the next grant. If the grant pays for travel, that means less pay for someone.

No I wasn't being sarcastic - but that said - I'm also not referring to the type of academics you're talking about.

But I agree that there is a big difference between hunting for grants, and being on tenure.......

BTW - I acknowledge that I'm horribly generalising and way off-topic, but I also have an immediate family member who for many decades has travelled in more F/J cabins than many members of this site, all on the university dime (amongst others). So I make my subjective comment based on many anecdotes over the years.

As an aside - when I first attained WP, I had assumed they had been CL for a number of years and asked them..... Was surprised they were only ever WP - despite their frequency of premium travel having earned a very close friendship with Margaret Jackson.

 

[medhead]

No I wasn't being sarcastic - but that said - I'm also not referring to the type of academics you're talking about.

Times have changed. Tenure is very rare. Universities are extremely focussed on the bottom line for all employees. JIF is something that all academic have to live to, speaking as a editor of a journal with low to non-existent JIF. Grants have to be gained by all and they have to do their teaching as well. Simply put times change. The research in this country is in a sorry state. While we can dig up dirt, I doubt we have the ability to mine knowledge and ideas anymore.


Sent from my iPhone using Aust Freq Fly app so please excuse the lack of links.

 

[Kangol]

IMHO - given the large taxpayer investment (and other public contributions) made to tertiary institutions - (again IMHO) a large number of academics enjoy junkets around the world (many in premium classes), many of which serve no purpose other than self-aggrandisement (is that word ) to further their own personal careers.

Depending on the field, many academics who have University positions (even high up ones) take a big pay cut compared to if they were earning an equivalent private salary. To make it to the top level, one has to endure the bottom rung(s) for many years which means even more time earning less money. I think it's safe to say that these "junkets" that academics get are few and far between (in the grand scheme of things) and are a minor compensation to what they could be getting elsewhere. If they didn't go down a teaching/research path, they could afford to pay for these premium class travels 10 times over in a lifetime.

PS. I'm not one but I know very well what it is like for people in that position.

 

[dfcatch]

Times have changed. Tenure is very rare. Universities are extremely focussed on the bottom line for all employees. JIF is something that all academic have to live to, speaking as a editor of a journal with low to non-existent JIF. Grants have to be gained by all and they have to do their teaching as well. Simply put times change. The research in this country is in a sorry state. While we can dig up dirt, I doubt we have the ability to mine knowledge and ideas anymore.


Sent from my iPhone using Aust Freq Fly app so please excuse the lack of links.

Sorry Medhead - what's "JIF"?

 

[amaroo]

Times have changed. Tenure is very rare. Universities are extremely focussed on the bottom line for all employees. JIF is something that all academic have to live to, speaking as a editor of a journal with low to non-existent JIF. Grants have to be gained by all and they have to do their teaching as well. Simply put times change. The research in this country is in a sorry state. While we can dig up dirt, I doubt we have the ability to mine knowledge and ideas anymore.


Sent from my iPhone using Aust Freq Fly app so please excuse the lack of links.

Exactly, I've noticed that with the Vice Chancellor of the USC, has to wait at least two years to get a brand new BMW or Merc......I don't know, how he puts up with it!!

 

[straitman]

What was the topic again :?:

 

[medhead]

Sorry one last off topic to answer the question. Please delete if not ok.

Sorry Medhead - what's "JIF"?

Journal impact factor. I won't explain the details but it is hard work for them.

Oh and a bit more, during undergrad, our VC was so hard done by he couldn't even afford a new car. He had to get by with an E-type.


Sent from my iPhone using Aust Freq Fly app so please excuse the lack of links.

 

[dfcatch]

Sorry one last off topic to answer the question. Please delete if not ok.



Journal impact factor. I won't explain the details but it is hard work for them.

Oh and a bit more, during undergrad, our VC was so hard done by he couldn't even afford a new car. He had to get by with an E-type.


Sent from my iPhone using Aust Freq Fly app so please excuse the lack of links.

Thanks Medhead

As punishment for going off-topic, I'm going to go and place myself in the naughty corner for at least 8 hours !!

 

[samiam]

While we can dig up dirt, I doubt we have the ability to mine knowledge and ideas anymore.

That is gold!