This has been Qantas’s method of negotiation for a decade. Agree on terms and then we will order the aircraft. It is not to say they won’t order the aircraft without the pilots agreement, but the threat is that another group of pilots will fly them.
The threat was extremely overt with the last LHEA. The CEO was pushing the threat via the media and talking of specific pilots who wanted to do the flying for less.
The threat with the Winton aircraft is a little more subtle but possibly more real because they already have ready trained crew in-house. There are multiple pilot groups in The Group beyond ‘mainline’ already flying the A320 and there are multiple pilot groups flying as QantasLink who’d probably be thrilled to get 20 A220’s.
So no, pilots don’t think the order hinges on themselves but the decision as to who flys them could be effected by the outcome of these negotiations.
That being said, we all have to stand up for our worth and vote no to a bad deal.