Thanks theheadmaster and engine out. I think most people would understand the difference between settling a dispute and a ruling made by a judge, without needing a lesson on when Qf have been found to have broken the law versus when Qf have settled.
Both of you are doing nothing more than obfuscating my 3 points, which were that:
- Keg isn’t qualified to be presenting his legal opinions as fact. It is my opinion that presenting unqualified legal opinions on public forums is dangerous, can be misleading, and is not justified simply because others do it. And,
- It is fact that Qf has settled and lost recent legal battles. Losing legal battles in court means that Qf have been found to have broken the law. And,
- I questioned why keg appears to constantly support qf’s position.
The issue is that in my opinion certain people including AIPA CoM members, and Qf management infiltrate online forums to push the company agenda, as well as their own personal agenda to the detriment of the broader pilot group. Nothing written after my initial post changes my opinion.
At least we can all agree Qf is not infallible. Pilots legal rights should be supported rather than undermined. Let’s move on shall we gentlemen?
I don't believe that Keg presented a 'legal opinion'.
Qantas may have lost the recent case with the TWU, however whether Qantas have 'broken the law' or not has not been finalised. There will be an appeal and at the end of that process the outcome will be known. However, the 'battle' and whether Qantas 'have broken the law' is not the real issue. The 'war' is about what happens to the workers. They have not been reinstated on their old conditions, and probably never will be. The 'war' is about what Qantas have done to the TWU, the FAAA, the ALAEA (and perhaps the AFAP with regards to Jetstar). AIPA needs to make sure they don't contribute to its members meeting the same fate.
The statement about AIPA CoM members infiltrating forums to push the company agenda is absurd. People like Keg are not pushing the company agenda to outsource and reduce conditions, they are actively working to prevent it. Taking the same path as the other unions will likely lead to similar outcomes. Not sure if you were in the industry in 1989, but I see similar grass roots attitudes now that were arounds then. The AIPA leadership were wise enough to avoid that mess. I don't have the same faith in the current AIPA leadership. In fact we have substantially the same Executive members that led long haul pilots to the industrial situation of 2011. The same people had a view that the current short haul and long haul Agreements should have been voted down. Look and see what having an open agreement at the moment means for your Jetstar and Virgin mates.
The argument isn't about standing up for pilots or not, it is about how to do it without shooting yourself in the foot.