Qantas and engineers' union agree to truce

[ChrisFlyer]

Qantas and engineers' union agree to truce - Yahoo!7

Qantas and one of three unions at the centre of a long-running industrial dispute have agreed to a truce.
Almost two months after Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce grounded the entire fleet, the airline and the engineers' union will on Monday afternoon present Fair Work Australia with an agreement to end the stand-off.

About time!!!

 

[harvyk]

Yeah I saw this this-morning. Whilst I was no longer worried about unions v qantas (and any possible affects) as it was effectively out of both their hands it is still nice to see them agreeing. It gives hope for the future after FWA has handed down it's decision and next round of bargaining happens.

 

[thewinchester]

QF & ALAEA reach agreement

Well, over the wires this morning one of the three recalcitrant unions has finally come to the table. This from an ABC journalist just an hour ago:

marshall_amelia: Qantas says an agreement has been reached between the airline and the Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association. link to tweet

An article from The Australian nine hours ago also seems to back Amelia's tweet that a deal was about to be done:

(Note to Mods: More text quoted than usual, but all relevant & done so under fair use provisions of Copyright Act 1968)

Qantas, engineers to settle dispute
BY: STEVE CREEDY From: The Australian December 19, 2011 12:00AM

QANTAS and its engineers will jointly present a proposed agreement to Fair Work Australia this afternoon to end the most damaging of the three industrial disputes that have cost the airline almost $200 million.

The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association, the union that threatened to "slow-bake" the airline, is set to become the first to strike a deal after a three-year package was approved by nationwide meetings of union members.

The ALAEA's actions and comments played a major role in prompting Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce to ground the airline on October 29. The industrial action to that point had cost the airline $70m and had resulted in the airline's premium traffic on the east coast plummeting as much as 40 per cent.

The agreement still needs to be ratified by Fair Work Australia but expectations are this will happen quickly, possibly by the end of the month or early next month.

It is understood the deal will see annual pay rises of 3 per cent and allow Qantas to introduce new work practices made possible by changes to Australian aircraft maintenance regulations.

These include a new category of licence and changes to checks on aircraft in transit.

The union also dropped demands that a hangar be built to allow heavy maintenance on Airbus A380 superjumbos to be performed in Australia.

"We will be submitting an agreed workplace determination to Fair Work Australia that represents a good deal for Qantas and its 1600 licensed engineers," a Qantas spokesman said yesterday. "It does not include any of the claims that would have restricted Qantas in making the changes needed to compete in the global aviation industry."

Separate disputes between Qantas and the Transport Workers Union, and the airline and the Australian and International Pilots Association are due to head to arbitration next year.

The TWU is looking at hearings in March while the pilots' hearings are scheduled for June.

So the TWU and the Pilots left, but at least the teams won't have to spread themselves thin trying to fight three industrial relations battles at once now.



----
Sent using my Roman era abacus.

 

[markis10]

Re: QF & ALAEA reach agreement

(Note to Mods: More text quoted than usual, but all relevant & done so under fair use provisions of Copyright Act 1956)

Minor point but there is no Copyright Act of 1956 applicable to Australia (since the collapse of the imperial system) nor is their fair use provisions applicable in Australia, its in fact the Australian Copyright Act of 1968 and it has fair dealings provisions, which are not the same as fair use provisions provided under US Korean and Polish laws.

 

[markis10]

3% pay rise is not bad and existing preflight checks to remain!

 

[thewinchester]

Re: QF & ALAEA reach agreement

Minor point but there is no Copyright Act of 1956 applicable to Australia (since the collapse of the imperial system) nor is their fair use provisions applicable in Australia, its in fact the Australian Copyright Act of 1968 and it has fair dealings provisions, which are not the same as fair use provisions provided under US Korean and Polish laws.

*headdesk*

Not the worst brainfart I've had at 6:30am, could have done a lot worse than mixing up my years

 

[thewinchester]

ALAEA press conference was just broadcast on ABC News24. Here's the highlights from Purvanis:

• Overall views
  • Main issue all along job security, secured existing job function & security for members.
  • ALAEA members ratified the deal late last week, claim Shorten was involved.
  • Fair Work Act was of great assistance to resolution.
  • No Christmas card for Joyce, maybe a handshake.
• Agreement basics
  • Agreement won't prevent QF growth opportunities, 4yr agreement backdated to 1 JAN 2011.
  • 3% headline increase, new licensing system recognised.
• Responses to questions from journalists covering
  • Disappointed they couldn't get A380 work back in Australia.
  • Claims three unions weren't acting in concert during dispute.
  • Would like to secure line maintenance work when 787 enters QF fleet.
  • Acknowledges QF has best safety record in world, wants to maintain that record.
  • Pre-flight checks b/f every flight, and this is an existing function kept under new agreement.
  • On the new CatA licensing, they don't feel it's the way to go specially without an apprenticeship or Full V license.
  • Hopeful agreement is start of a new day with their QF relationship.

And for once, Purvanis actually looked decent and spoke like a statesman. I dare say he's come a bit of a way from that annoying communist twerp we got used to at the start of the year. Mind you, it's the same communist - just in a half-decent, off the rack suit.

 

[Blackadder]

Just reported on Channel Nine, FWA have handed down there final determination on the issue.