If you look at Virgin Cabin Crew EA
- They started bargaining in 2018
- Virgin was in dire financial peril losing $380m in one year
- Virgin went insolvent and into administration.
- thousands made redundant at Virgin including all of Tiger
- hundreds of meetings took place with Virgin and union with no result over many many years
Both Virgin and the TWU etc asked for mediation from FWA Australia. Yes Virgin have said they
may apply to terminate if an agreement can’t be reached however:
- The Judge has recommended a negotiated agreement that is far ahead of the minimum award
- The TWU has recommended voting on the agreement that is far ahead of the Minimum award
- the commissioner complimented both parties on the conduct of subsequent negotiations
Qantas isn’t insolvent as was the case with Virgin. The redundancy issue is also different. Termination is
not the only option. FWA, Virgin and the TWU have
all recommended a newly negotiated package which is far
superior to the minimum award.
Qantas position is not the same to that at Virgin. It will also be interesting to see how it unfolds as the Omicron wanes, the borders open up, and the economy starts surging ahead. Not to mention the political pressure.