Unlucky Qantas passengers could be delayed

[Slats7]

http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,28318,26313442-27977,00.html

FRIDAY the 13th could prove to be an unlucky day for travellers on Qantas flights with professional engineers voting for the first time to commence a series of work bans late next week.

Concerned about issues related to fatigue management and professional advancement, the degree-qualified engineers attended meetings in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane today and decided to enforce bans on overtime and out of hours call-outs from next Friday.

No news have started their daily QF bashing.

 

[medhead]

Unlucky Qantas passengers could be delayed | Travel | News.com.au

No news have started their daily QF bashing.

What? News limited have organized a union strike have they. The union is just the mouth piece of news limited are they, sprouting out concerns that are not the concerns of union members but in fact the words of Murdoch spoken just to get a story to bash qantas.

Get real

 

[Slats7]

What? News limited have organized a union strike have they. The union is just the mouth piece of news limited are they, sprouting out concerns that are not the concerns of union members but in fact the words of Murdoch spoken just to get a story to bash qantas.

Get real

Yes, I couldn't have said it any better myself.

 

[Mr Ed]

I never pay for the cheapest airfare and one of the reasons, is so the few extra quid can pay for excellent plane maintenance.

Yeah yeah, I know it goes to Geoff Dixon but hey I can dream.

 

[DJ737]

Hi there

Probably might be good to have a refundable DJ ticket next friday if you are planning on flying QF, just in case.

Cheers
DJ737

 

[notzac]

Is it bad that I hope QF11 is delayed a few hours by this? More FLounging time for me!

 

[Mal]

If the engineers are battling, then it will be interesting to see what "weird" delays happen, and minor things are blown out of proportion.

Hopefully APESMA are a much better behavied union than the ALAEA.

 

[JohnK]

Pardon me for not being sympathetic to the engineers' cause.

I am in Brisbane this weekend and all I need is for the delays to keep me in Brisbane next weekend as well.

 

[NM]

I wish for 30% pay rise over 3 years too. But given that the current economic climate means all staff at my company received 0% increase this year, I find it difficult to accept that 10%/year for 3 years is viable for an industry that is significantly affected by the economic down-turn.

The only thing that come to mind is "Tell them they are dreaming".

 

[drewbles]

I wish for 30% pay rise over 3 years too. But given that the current economic climate means all staff at my company received 0% increase this year, I find it difficult to accept that 10%/year for 3 years is viable for an industry that is significantly affected by the economic down-turn.

The only thing that come to mind is "Tell them they are dreaming".

I concur. As i've mentioned elsewhere in here, I work for a company that does global SIM cards, so we are *heavily* tied in with travel trends.

In June this year all our full time staff were given an option. Take a pay cut or have a heap of people lose their jobs. We opted for the former on the basis our salary level would only be decreased on a temporary basis. They also allowed us RDO's in line with the reduction in salary, so it was a semi trade-off.

The travel industry is one of the harder hit industries in the "GFC". If the engineers don't like it, go somewhere else. There's no shortage of people in most industries to take up the slack.

Working in the Telco world, i've not had a pay rise since 2004. It's a sad fact of the IT Industry. Now i'm working in the Telco world tightly tied up with travel, I just have to be happy I have a job. At least the company looks after us and lays all the cards on the table rather than just firing people or making necessary staff redundant.

 

[JohnK]

Working in the Telco world, i've not had a pay rise since 2004. It's a sad fact of the IT Industry.

Our company was extremely generous giving us 3.25% increase this year based on achieving certain performance indicators. But then again skilled IT staff are extremely hard to find and keep....

 

[drewbles]

But then again skilled IT staff are extremely hard to find and keep....

Agreed. Got any MEL jobs going? I'm loyal to a company that looks after me, but unfortunately my job skills are far too niche. Kinda backed myself into a corner

Anyway, back to the QF engineers...

 

[possumoz]

The conspiracy theorist in me would like to think that perhaps all the QF engineers have been getting the odd brown paper bag with little DJ stamps on me....compliments from n news.....:shock:

...It's joke, Mavis..it's a joke....

 

[Slats7]

Qantas safety fears as engineers vote work ban

Qantas safety fears as engineers vote work ban | Travel News | News.com.au

QANTAS faces a maintenance backlog and scheduling problems after engineers decided to take industrial action against work conditions.



The engineers will meet today to decide what action to take on a 30 per cent pay claim over three years and other issues, The Australian reports.



They have identified fatigue as a key issue under a call-out policy they say is requiring them to respond to critical and complex engineering issues with less than five hours sleep between jobs.

 

[pauly7]

Hi there

Probably might be good to have a refundable DJ ticket next friday if you are planning on flying QF, just in case.

Cheers
DJ737

Mmmmm and likewise if anyone is flying DJ around Xmas when their workforce is threatening to strike should we all buy QF refundables just in case?

 

[Sprucegoose]

Pardon me for not being sympathetic to the engineers' cause.

I am in Brisbane this weekend and all I need is for the delays to keep me in Brisbane next weekend as well.

DONTleave bne until you tell us ur status run John. spruce

 

[DJ737]

Mmmmm and likewise if anyone is flying DJ around Xmas when their workforce is threatening to strike should we all buy QF refundables just in case?

Sure, why wouldn't anyone have a back up just in case.

 

[Mal]

And the industrial action is on:
Industrial action may ground Qantas, Jestar planes

Bans on overtime and out-of-hours call-outs will start at 4pm (AEST) today and last until 8am on Monday, the union says.

The action will re-commence from Monday at 4pm until Tuesday at 7am and continue on the same daily pattern indefinitely.

 

[Empdizz]

Qantas has released the following statement in regards to the strike:

QANTAS STATEMENT ON ENGINEERS’ INDUSTRIAL ACTION
SYDNEY, 13 November 2009: Qantas said today that industrial action planned by Professional
Engineers from this evening would not have any impact on airline operations.
Qantas Group Executive Government and Corporate Affairs, Mr David Epstein, said the airline had
continued to negotiate with the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers
Australia (APESMA) during the week on the latest Enterprise Bargaining Agreement.
The union plans to commence protected industrial action at 5pm this evening in the form of work
bans that include work outside normal hours.
“We remain disappointed that the union is taking this unnecessary action,” Mr Epstein said.
“The contribution our Professional Engineers make to our operations is highly valued, but APESMA’s
current claim remains at nearly 30 per cent over three years and is still unreasonable and
unsustainable.
“We have continued to negotiate in good faith, including during the week, and are absolutely
committed to finding common ground.”
Mr Epstein said Qantas had contingency plans in place once the action had commenced.
“There will not be any disruption to our operations and I can assure our customers that they can
travel with confidence,” he said.
“Aircraft will not be grounded and safety will, as always, remain our top priority.”
Qantas employs approximately 190 Professional Engineers in an engineering workforce of around
5,500 people.

In short, Flights will not be affected in any way and neither will safety.

 

[serfty]

Qantas has released the following statement in regards to the strike: ...
In short, Flights will not be affected in any way and neither will safety.

I am certain that safety will not be affected, but it is in interests of those arranging the industrial action that flights be affected. Otherwise, union members will simply lose out on overtime.

Here's an example that I personally experienced last year in June when similar action was underway:

View from 11D on ZK-JTP