Virgin Blue engineers plan industrial action

[Keith009]

Virgin Blue engineers plan industrial action

STRIKES and disruptions loom at Virgin Blue after the budget airline's licensed engineers backed strikes of up to two days and a range of other work bans.
The industrial action - which can now start with three days notice - comes after talks between the airline and the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association became bogged down over a range of issues including the use of baggage handlers in roles previously carried out by engineers.
Union federal secretary Steve Purvinas said the industrial action could start within the next week and he warned that Virgin Blue was vulnerable to even minor levels of industrial action.

 

[anat0l]

Virgin Blue was vulnerable to even minor levels of industrial action

I don't really get the significance of stating that.

Is this Qantas' fault, per chance?

Apart from that, did anyone think for a moment that this might be global strike season?

 

[simongr]

Well the recession is now over globally and everything is fine with the world financially so it must be time for Australian Unions to start getting the fair share for their workers - there is absolutely no risk in them doing this...

 

[gilby08]

Anyone seen the nonews.com version of this yet?!:shock:

 

[samh004]

If baggage handlers can do the jobs engineers were once doing then they were clearly paying the engineers too much. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to do everything!

 

[anat0l]

If baggage handlers can do the jobs engineers were once doing then they were clearly paying the engineers too much. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to do everything!

Aren't baggage handlers "engineers" too?

Our profession is being butchered these days to people who think they are engineering something (for example, telephone centre attendant = "Customer Service Engineer" )

Besides, rocket scientists might be able to put a man on the moon but they can't build a bridge

On a more serious note, trivialising the real roles of engineers who have to examine aircraft and trying to checklist it so that non-skilled people can do it is - in my opinion - dangerous at best.

 

[Flashback]

On a more serious note, trivialising the real roles of engineers who have to examine aircraft and trying to checklist it so that non-skilled people can do it is - in my opinion - dangerous at best.

This is assuming that's the particular task at hand. It would be interesting to see what specifically they're referring to.

 

[codash1099]

If baggage handlers can do the jobs engineers were once doing then they were clearly paying the engineers too much. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to do everything!

Most of the time, I wouldn't trust a baggage handler to handle baggage .

The thought that they might be entrusted with something previously done by engineers, however simple, fills me with alarm.