“When I sign an aircraft off then if something happens, I'm liable for it,” he says. Yet that simple signature carries with it a huge weight of responsibility. Mark’s seniority means it is his job to sign what's known as the Certificate of Release to Service – the last document certifying that the plane is ready to fly. It’s not just about moneyįor Mark, striking is motivated by seeking recognition and respect for the expertise engineers give to a high-pressure role that is vital in maintaining the airline’s famous safety record.Īnd that comes with some degree of personal risk. Qantas has called the strike action “ extremely disappointing” and a spokesman said "these token one-minute stoppages won’t have any impact on customers or our operations". “How will Qantas react to industrial action? The same way they’ve always reacted which is very, very aggressively.” Tony Webber, an aviation sector analyst and former chief economist at Qantas, agrees. “That’s a discordant message.”īamber says the step to industrial action is in response to Qantas’s “determination to play hardball with the various elements of its workforce and not work in a more cooperative way”. “We’ve got inflation on the one hand and very little growth in wages on the other unless you happen to be in the senior executive suites where there still seem to be fairly lavish bonuses being paid,” he says. The union is firing a warning shot, says Greg Bamber, a professor at Monash Business School and co-author of a book on how airlines can improve their performance by engaging employees. ( ABC News: John Gunn)īut will industrial action work this time? Steve Purvinas from the Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association says Qantas engineers can ensure they have a say by withdrawing labour. “Generally, everyone goes 'yeah', because we want the company to succeed and because it’s in our best interests to keep our jobs.” “Whatever else is happening around the world the company has said 'things aren’t looking real good at the moment can you guys help us out and accept a one year wage freeze',” he says. Mark points out engineers have accepted Qantas’s requests for wage freezes or minimum increases on multiple occasions over the years, and have not had a pay rise since 2019. “We can have our say by withdrawing our labour and we are going to do that, for one minute,” he says, adding the administrative hassle of docking employees for one minute of work adds further burden on Qantas. If the one-minute stoppage is ineffective the union has plans to go further including overtime bans. To anyone scoffing that a one-minute strike is hardly worth it, Steve Purvinas, the federal secretary of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers’ Association (ALAEA), says the stoppage reminds Qantas "there is another party negotiating here".Īs inflation rises, Purvinas argues “3 per cent per annum would be a fair ask for anyone”. Qantas CEO Alan Joyce apologises to customers The engineers' strike over wages comes on the same day Qantas announced revenue had jumped 54 per cent from 2021 but a full-year net loss of $860 million, and in the same week management attempted to win back customers disgruntled over delays and lost baggage with $50 travel vouchers. The one-minute strike is to protest Qantas's inaction over negotiations for a 12 per cent pay rise over four years, equivalent to 3 per cent a year, and is designed to send a message to management: patience has run out. He no longer believes that loyalty flows in both directions. I saw it as a job for life and it felt as if the loyalty went both ways.”īut as Qantas engineers begin industrial action on Thursday - with a strategy to delay the start of each shift by one minute - Mark plans to join them. “From day one I’ve thought 'well, this is bloody awesome' and I've poured blood, sweat and tears into my job” he says, describing long nights working in the cold and rain to make sure an aircraft takes off before curfew.
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