WORKERS PROTEST AT CAIRNS AIRPORT FOR BETTER, SAFER JOBS
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Hundreds of Alliance pilots in three states are considering industrial action calling for pay to match industry standards and decent rostering conditions to protect work-life balance. It follows the TWU’s push across the airport to rebuild standards in aviation which have been systematically decimated by Qantas over the past decade.
The Australian aviation industry has already experienced a mass exodus of skills and experience over the past few years following the pandemic, and now risks losing significantly more pilots to overseas airlines with pay and conditions that reflect the expertise and workload of the role.
Pilots in SA, Queensland and WA are all now for the first time considering action if the company does not come to the table with a fair offer. Approximately 90% of the work for over 300 SA and QLD Alliance pilots is for Qantas, operating under the Qantaslink banner.
South Australian pilots have voted 90% in favour of industrial action, while Queensland pilots are currently voting in a Protected Action Ballot, and WA pilots are currently awaiting Fair Work Commission approval for a Protected Action Ballot.
This follows Queensland pilots recently voting down a proposed agreement from the company by an overwhelming 96%.
Alliance pilots are also together pushing for a single National Enterprise Agreement to cover all Alliance Group Pilots across Australia including pilots based in NT who are currently employed under individual contracts with no ability to collectively bargain.
TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said pilots were standing up against Alliance’s offer which remains below current industry pay and conditions, following thousands of other workers in the Qantas supply chain fighting to lift standards decimated by the airline.
“What Alliance has presented to pilots is an offer that would put them below industry standards on pay, and exacerbate the lack of work-life balance they’re already experiencing.
“These are pilots doing majority Qantas work but are on far inferior pay and conditions to other Qantas pilots. Pilots are sending Alliance and Qantas a strong message that it’s time to come to the table with a fair offer and stop the undermining of pay and conditions through deliberate fragmentation.
“Already we’ve got a mass exodus of pilots right now from Australia to other countries where pay and conditions reflect the workload and expertise demanded by the profession. This will continue unless we see a reversal of this trend of pilot conditions going backwards.
“Right across aviation there is a huge churn of workers because the pay and conditions have gone backwards, whether you’re a pilot or a ground worker. From what were careers for life are now lower-paid jobs with no work-life balance and it’s not just workers who suffer, it’s the travelling public. We need a Safe and Secure Skies Commission to return our aviation industry to one workers and the public can rely on.”
98% of dnata ground workers, also in the Qantas supply chain following the airline’s illegal outsourcing of its ground staff, also recently voted for the right to take protected industrial action. The TWU will meet with the company on Friday for emergency bargaining discussions, with workers calling for better pay, rostering and job security provisions to rebuild decent aviation jobs.