QF Engineers set to strike !

[Platy]

[minor Rant]OT: So it's the fault of the ex Govt that interest rates have been rising, not the fact the economy is going gangbusters. Oh, sorry, it's not the previous govt than can take the credit for that, it's the China sourced resources boom.[/minor Rant]

Howard's record of complacency | smh.com.au

since OT, maybe enough said...

 

[serfty]

[OT]

... since OT, maybe enough said...

I don't rate Ross Gittins as a unbiased commentator.[/OT]

 

[JohnK]

Just some quick maths - assuming the engineers are on A$85,000 - that additional 2% in the first year alone is a cost of $3,000,000.

To Qantas and it's ever increasing $1.1billion+/year profit the $3,000,000 is nothing to keep a group of 1700 important employees happy.

It has already been mentioned in this thread but I just wonder what the annual cost of the pay increases is for the top 30 executives in the last 12 months. My guess would be a lot more than $3,000,000 and for a lot less value added to the business.

I for one would be a tad nervous about your travel plans

So be it. Not the end of the world.

 

[Reggie]

then I am going backwards.

Feels the same as sitting in a windoiw seat in Club World.

 

[straitman]

Back OT: I think the real issue here relates to the following (from the original article):

By law, only a licensed aircraft maintenance engineer can sign for a jet to re-enter service after a maintenance check or a landing. ...

The union ... also opposes the employment of less-qualified engineers on lower wages.

I'm surprised that everyone let this one through to the keeper.
There are a lot of Aircraft Maintenance Engineers (AME's) out there who quite capably work on aircraft. They must have oversight from a Licenced Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (LAME) who then does the sign off.

The second point that's slipped through is that a lot of the AME's are union members. I believe the real issue from the union perspective is much more complex than simply saying 'The union ... also opposes the employment of less-qualified engineers on lower wages'

 

[Hvr]

My thoughts for what they worth are, that people are entitled to strike, but they shouldn't be allowed to hold the public to ransom. Why is it that airline staff always choose Christmas or Easter to strike, and techer choose the first days of term. I have never seen teachers strike when the kids are on holidays. WHats the point, they want to cause maximum dusruption.

No point striking if no one is affected. I have my personal overseas trip booked for the end of Jan and would hate for it to be disrupted by a strike. But if it is I will understand.

One of the legacies of the Howard era is that workers are totally expendable. As others here have mentioned the directors etc have gotten huge payrises for gross incompetance. Yet the actual workers who are responsible for getting the planes into the air are not considered worthy of reaping the rewards of the massive increase in profits which they have directly contributed to.

What is really needed here in AUS is the requirement to bargain in good faith. So far there is nothing stopping QANTAS refusing to bargain and just starving the workers back to work.

 

[Reggie]

So far there is nothing stopping QANTAS refusing to bargain and just starving the workers back to work.

Legally yes, but there is still an amount (even if it is small) of morality that stops some going this far.

I hope your holidays are not effected, I have taken the added insurance of booking flights on both the 8th, and my prefered day of travel the 9th, just in case.

 

[drron]

No point striking if no one is affected. I have my personal overseas trip booked for the end of Jan and would hate for it to be disrupted by a strike. But if it is I will understand.
.

One of the legacies of the Howard era is that workers are totally expendable. As others here have mentioned the directors etc have gotten huge payrises for gross incompetance. Yet the actual workers who are responsible for getting the planes into the air are not considered worthy of reaping the rewards of the massive increase in profits which they have directly contributed to.
.

What is really needed here in AUS is the requirement to bargain in good faith. So far there is nothing stopping QANTAS refusing to bargain and just starving the workers back to work.

1-Not necessarily so.I have taken a group of doctors out on strike in NSW in 1974.The strike was for the length of a lunch time protest meeting and got our case before the courts earlier.This reason of course is not relevant now but merely getting the press exposure for your case is also an aim
2-Really the pay of directors is a global problem and has happened in the UK under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown so a little harsh blaming johnny.I do agree with you that these salaries are a problem.As to the workers being expendable I guess you have not noticed the unemployment rates
3-A bit like Tony Blair did with the UK coal miners?

 

[Skoogle]

I hope your holidays are not effected, I have taken the added insurance of booking flights on both the 8th, and my prefered day of travel the 9th, just in case.

And the insurance company agreed to cover you, even though you and them are aware of the strike?

I wonder if they will decline claim, on the basis of the warning and that passengers had time to reschedule.

 

[serfty]

Methinks Reggie is self insuring at a $38.50 premium.

 

[Reggie]

Methinks Reggie is self insuring at a $38.50 premium.

Serfty, you thinks correct, self insurance, but also incorrect as there is no cost to me at present. As it is a DONE4, I haven't paid for the ticket yet. I am booked on both days and will make the decision when payment is required.

 

[Platy]

I guess you have not noticed the unemployment rates
3-A bit like Tony Blair did with the UK coal miners?

Unemployment rates are not uniform. Some skill sets in some industries will benefit (eg. mining), whilst others will be taken for a ride (eg. hospitality) in a deregulated IR milieu.

The main coal miners strike in the UK was in the mid-80s under Tory (ie. Liberal-National equivalent) PM Margaret Thatcher. It lasted for a couple of years. Similarly, at that time, there was an 18 month teachers strike. Teachers then were woefully underpaid. More recent UK governments (notably the Labour (centrist) Blair govenment) have substantially improved teachers pay, recognising the impotance of education in delivering social equity and the supply of skills for continued economic growth.

Many agree that pay increases should be linked to productivity gains and yet here in Australia pay is not keeping pace with either productivity or profit gains. Employees are thus being screwed. For what its worth, it always seemed to make sense to me to have employee share ownership schemes to deliver some share of the productivity/profit back to the peole who enabled business success and to lock in employee loyalty.

 

[drron]

Thatcher may well have softened up the miners,Blair finished them off-source John Pilger,hardly a right wing fanatic.

 

[JohnK]

2-Really the pay of directors is a global problem and has happened in the UK under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown so a little harsh blaming johnny.I do agree with you that these salaries are a problem.As to the workers being expendable I guess you have not noticed the unemployment rates

I am finding it hard to get a job in my field of expertise. Partly because of new technology partly because of lowering IT budgets.

Now I totally agree with the issues involving salaries for so called top management. It is way out of control and so out of touch with the salary of the middle income earner and needs to be reined in quickly. I remember 15-20 years when a GM or MD was earning ~$100,000-$200,000/pa and a decent salary was ~$40,000-$50,000/pa. Now GMs and MDs are earning $1,000,000-$20,000,000/pa and a decent salary is ~$50,000-$70,000/pa.

 

[straitman]

As to the workers being expendable I guess you have not noticed the unemployment rates.

Getting LAME's & AME's are a bit like finding hens teeth. All the good ones have jobs :!:

 

[Reggie]

Serfty, you thinks correct, self insurance, but also incorrect as there is no cost to me at present. As it is a DONE4, I haven't paid for the ticket yet. I am booked on both days and will make the decision when payment is required.

Well, my TA, started to get edgy that it was only 9 days till my first booked flight, and with New Years day inbetween. So anyway I took the safe option and went with flights on the 8th, only time will tell if my decision was a good one. After that I then have QF9 on the 12th to hope gets away unhindered.

 

[Dave Noble]

For those going to Eggland, do be aware of the planned airport strikes there too

Dave

 

[Reggie]

For those going to Eggland, do be aware of the planned airport strikes there too

Dave

:shock: When, by whom and for what? I ain't actually going to Eggland, just transferring, (twice) so likely still to be affected. :evil:

 

[Dave Noble]

:shock: When, by whom and for what? I ain't actually going to Eggland, just transferring, (twice) so likely still to be affected. :evil:

The Unite union has called 24-hour strikes on 7 and 14 January, and a 48-hour strike starting on 17 January
.
.
.
The strikes would hit Stansted, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton airports, as well as Gatwick and Heathrow, and BAA say 1.3 million passengers would be affected..

Have a look at BBC NEWS | Business | No agreement over airport dispute for full report

Dave

 

[Keith009]

:shock: When, by whom and for what? I ain't actually going to Eggland, just transferring, (twice) so likely still to be affected. :evil:

By BAA workers:
07JAN from 0600 for 24 hours
14JAN from 0600 for 24 hours
17JAN from 0600 for 48 hours

They're striking over plans to axe pension plans for future employees.