Originally Posted by
wombat watcher
yes
AJ decided to invoke the lockout and announce it on the Saturday morning having gotten the AGM out of the wayearlier in the week
he had been planning it as a contingency for a while
He grounded the airline effective after his announcement
the guvmint was expected to refer the matter for compulsory mediation under the IR laws as a matter of public interest relatively quickly.
this was delayed until late on the saturday night
the lockout was due to come into force effective Sunday or Monday (I can’t recall)
the FWC convened late Saturday night and sat until the early hours of Sunday morning and ruled for compulsory mediation and for the lockout to be voided
the prime targets were the TWU and the LAME’s. Pilots got caught up in the action
much to Qf surprise CASA kept the airline grounded until Qf could make a case that safety wasn’t compromised by the emotional and other issues generated by the grounding and the looming lockout
it took until the Tuesday or Wednesday before this could be achieved and normal operations resumed
it was AJ who initially grounded the airline and then CASA who kept it grounded
Yes pilots received letters advising of the lockout, yes pilots were told not to report for work but no Qf pilot was actually locked out.
Thank you. I’d suggest it was rather disingenuous to claim that CASA grounded the airline prior to the lockout commencing, when the grounding was very much Alan’s own work (irrespective of whether CASA then prolonged the grounding a little longer than Alan expected). You’re right that no QF pilot was actually locked out, but under the circumstances, being grounded due to industrial action, versus being locked out due to industrial action, amounted to little more than semantics.