Qantas Employment Relations - News Stories.
Qantas dispute returns to Industrial Relations Commission
Monday, December 17, 2001
A dispute which could threaten air services returns to the Industrial Relations Commission today.
Qantas maintenance workers have rejected the airline's proposals for a wages freeze.
The dispute involving 3,000 maintenance workers has been running for around six months.
After lengthy negotiations last weekend, Qantas had sought a ballot of the maintenance workers.
The unions claim 90 per cent of the workforce voted against the company's latest offer.
The national secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), Doug Cameron, did not rule out the grounding of Qantas jets if the dispute continues and he says the company would only have itself to blame.
"If Qantas doesn't come to the party, I think it's inevitable that the industrial action will continue and that will be Qantas' responsibility," he said.
Unions-Qantas meet for rare industrial relations hearing
Sunday, December 9, 2001
Unions representing about 2,500 Qantas maintenance workers will attempt to settle an industrial dispute with the airline in a rare Sunday hearing of the Industrial Relations Commission in Melbourne.
The company has proposed a 12 to 18 month wage freeze, to compensate for a worldwide downturn in the aviation industry.
But David Oliver of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union says workers sholud not have to accept the wage freeze as Qantas has doubled its market share and is increasing its profits.
"Our members are determined they are not prepared to accept a wage freeze," he said.
"This company is clearly in a unique position as compared to the rest of the aviation industry around the world."
"Yet they're insisting our members, the ones who service the aircraft, who give this airline the reputation of being the safest in the world, receive no renumeration for the next 12 months and that's clearly not an acceptable position."
Union takes on Qantas in AIRC
Friday, February 1, 2002
The Australian Workers Union will take Qantas to the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) today.
The move follows the standing down of maintenance workers who had refused to lift overtime bans in place since September.
The overtime bans are part of a long-running wage dispute by maintenance workers refusing to accept a Qantas wage freeze.
More than 700 workers walked off the job in Sydney yesterday after colleagues in Sydney and Melbourne were stood down.
The airline says no flights will be disrupted.
The union's Bill Shorten says Qantas is being the spoilt brat of industrial relations.
"Why are you trying to stand down hundreds of your workforce who maintain the airplanes and at the same time say there'll be no effects to flights?" Mr Shorten said.
Qantas spokesman Michael Sharp rejects claims Qantas is trying to provoke industrial action.
"We have made an offer that was actually recommended by union representatives, but then rejected by the members," Mr Sharp said.
He says Qantas was exercising its rights under the Workplace Relations Act by standing the workers down.
Qantas sacks security manager
Thursday, June 2, 2005
Qantas has confirmed it has sacked one of its security managers.
Alan Conwell was a former officer with the New South Wales Police Drug Enforcement Agency and was adversely mentioned in the Royal Commission into Police Corruption in 1996.
During the commission he was mentioned in relation to Michael Hurley, who is now wanted for his alleged connection to an international cocaine ring.
Qantas employed Mr Conwell in 2001 after the collapse of Ansett and Qantas says it was unaware of his background.
Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon says the decision to terminate Mr Conwell's contract was made on May 20.
"We didn't get evidence he was involved but we certainly have evidence that his relationship with people who are being investigated in the case is something that we would not tolerate," Mr Dixon said.
He says he is at a loss to explain how one of the airline's security managers could have been cleared by the relevant authorities for employment with the airline.
Mr Dixon says, given the vigorous employment checks, he cannot understand why neither Qantas nor Mr Conwell's previous employer Ansett, were not alerted.
"I don't understand how it could happen," he said.
"Obviously if we'd known he'd been mentioned in the Royal Commission and that he had a previous association with Hurley, he wouldn't have been employed by us or by Ansett.
"So obviously probably back then maybe people weren't talking enough to each other, to various authorities but certainly once we found out, we terminated him."
Qantas flight attendant talks deadlocked
Monday, October 18, 2004
There has been no progress in talks with Qantas over the hiring of flight attendants on short-term contracts, the Flight Attendants Association says.
The talks were ordered by the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) and the association's Michael Mijatov says the union will seek another hearing.
He says Qantas is using the workers for its own gain.
"They're desperate to get jobs these people, and what they [Qantas] intend to do is actually terminate their employment and give it to people overseas," he said.
"I mean if Qantas is serious they should come out now and say that they'll give these people full-time work."
The Flight Attendants Association claims 300 new flight attendants employed recently are being trained to thwart any strike action over the Christmas period.
The airline denies the workers are being secretly trained as strike breakers.
Qantas executive general manager John Borghetti has rejected the Commissioner's description of the airline's dealings with the union as brief and unhelpful.
"Well, I think one has to look at the totality of the discussions that have been going on between us and the union," he said.
"There hasn't just been one letter, there have been numerous discussions, correspondence over a variety of issues and certainly it wasn't our intention to not continue those discussions.
"It was, in fact, the union that walked away and brought them to an end."
Qantas to meet unions over jobs plan
Thursday, May 27, 2004
Qantas says no decisions have been made about offshore employment and unions will be briefed about any job losses.
Unions fear Qantas plans to send one-in-four long haul flight attendant jobs overseas, resulting in the loss of more than 1,000 jobs.
Qantas boss Geoff Dixon says he will meet unions after discussing the offshore employment issue with 250 senior managers next Tuesday.
Michael Mijatov from the Flight Attendants Association says his members are outraged and are likely to take industrial action during enterprise bargaining later this year.
"If it actually is their intention to do this, and we believe it is, then we are going to clash with them later this year," he said.
Pilots strike to disrupt flights
Saturday, August 31, 2002
Up to 15 Qantaslink flights, mainly in regional New South Wales, will be disrupted next week when pilots walk off the job for six-and-a-half hours.
The stoppage is part of a campaign for better pay and conditions.
It is expected 155 pilots will take part in the industrial action to allow their union to brief them on how negotiations with the airline are progressing.
Qantaslink flights from Sydney and Canberra will be disrupted between 10:30am AEST and 5:00pm AEST next Tuesday.
The executive director of the Australian Federation of Air Pilots, Terry O'Connell, says it has been trying to negotiate a new enterprise bargaining agreement for the past 15 months.
"I think the length of time is frustrating and that's one of the reasons we wish to report back to the pilots," he said.
"But there have been some complicating factors such as a freeze that was imposed on salaries by Qantas in relation to all of its employees we did get caught up in that and that has as I say complicated the whole issue."
Qantas failed to notify union of downsizing plans: ASU
Friday, April 11, 2003
The Tasmanian branch of the Australian Services Union (ASU) has criticised Qantas for failing to notify the union of its plans to downsize its national operations.
Earlier this week, Qantas revealed its plans to cut 1,400 jobs across the country, citing the war in Iraq and the SARS virus as contributing factors.
The ASU's Sean Kelly says Qantas neglected to go through the proper channels and notify unions as required by its enterprise agreement.
"My understanding is that the unions were not officially notified under that agreement," he said.
"That means a dispute situation could well arise and may mean the ASU has to seek the assistance of the Arbitration Commission."
Mr Kelly says he believes the downsizing will not adversely affect Qantas operations in Hobart, instead signalling a possible increase in employment.
Qantas ready for union stoush: Dixon
Thursday, October 21, 2004
Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon has told shareholders the airline is ready for a stoush with unions.
Mr Dixon has addressed the company's annual general meeting in Brisbane, outside which a small group of airline employees has been protesting.
Mr Dixon has expressed dismay at union talk of strike action over the busy Christmas-New Year period.
The Flight Attendants Association has said it may call strikes over Christmas, as it prepares to start negotiating a new enterprise bargaining agreement.
The Australian Services Union has also warned of industrial action on behalf of its members.
Mr Dixon says the airline is one of the most unionised private companies in Australia and it is determined to make its business more efficient.
He says flight attendants enjoy workplace conditions well above the Australian average.
In a pointed message to the Flight Attendants Association and the Australian Services Union, he says the airline is not prepared to be held hostage by any union and has contingency plans in place to protect its business.
Qantas heads for AIRC over 'strike breakers'
Monday, October 18, 2004
The Flight Attendants Association of Australia and Qantas will appear before the Industrial Relations Commission in Sydney today over claims the company is covertly training strike breakers.
The association says the battle is over the engagement of long-haul flight attendants on a fixed-term basis.
It says the action stems from concerns about the airline's plans to shift jobs to London.
The association's Michael Mijatov says it will argue that Qantas is breaching a clause of its enterprise agreement "which states that before Qantas can actually give fixed-term employment to people it needs to actually demonstrate that the existence of work can't be done by full-time staff".
"We say that it can be done because, for example, just recently Qantas facilitated the transfer of about 50 full-time flight attendants from its international arm of its operations to the domestic arm," he said.
Qantas says there has been no secrecy in the action.
It expects the trainees will be used for the Christmas peak period but cannot rule out their use in the event of industrial action.
Qantas pay raise approved despite union 'mischief'
Thursday, October 21, 2004
Qantas has dismissed claims of a 66 per cent pay increase for its board of directors as union "mischief making".
Shareholders in Brisbane have voted to approve a salary cap increase for non-executive directors.
The increase takes the cap from $1.5 million to $2.5 million per year.
The figure represents the maximum aggregate amount that can be paid to directors.
Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon says the major issue for the airline is union talk of strike action of the Christmas holidays, not a relatively moderate pay increase for directors.
"I think one of the more reprehensible, and I mean that word, that the unions' activities that the unions undertake, particularly the flight attendants, is to continue to say that they will strike, let's see if they do strike - we will fly," he said.
Before the vote, Australian Services Union spokeswoman Linda White said the hike was unjustified at a time when workers were being offered only a 3 per cent pay increase.
"This is, I guess, one of the worst examples in Australia this year of corporate greed," she said.
"What we are seeing is directors who are being paid well and above the average of directors in Australia rewarding themselves.
"They are filling their wheelbarrows full of money while they are letting the staff get below what they deserve."
CASA to review Qantas safety training
Wednesday, October 20, 2004.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) will take a fresh look at Qantas flight attendant training after an internal document highlighted concerns over its adequacy.
The flight attendants union says the leaked email from Qantas's senior instructor in emergency training, Robert Ford, sets out his concerns to other senior Qantas managers that the company is more interested in numbers than standards.
The union says it is evidence that new recruits are being trained as a strike-breaking force rather than a contingency for the Christmas peak, a claim Qantas has rejected.
Aviation Authority spokesman Peter Gibson says there is no evidence to date that students are being "bulldozed" through the course but the new allegations will be investigated nevertheless.
"Now that these specific claims have been made, we'll go back and test them," he said.