Proppy,
I admire your persistence - I made the same arguments for a couple of weeks (months?) on these forums last year and eventually gave up.
Australia is a land of tall poppy cutters, and in Australian aviation, there is only one tall poppy left - Qantas!
Many posters blame AIPA for separating itself from the AFAP in the leadup to the 89 dispute. Those who were in the Association at that time (and have spoken to me about it) said that they could see where the AFAP was heading at the time and didn't want to be a part of it. As a group, that is surely their right! But once again, I'm sure, there will be many here who feel that they were just gutless, Company lackies!
The dispute eventually ended and left pilots in a very weakened and paranoid state - to my recollection there were no other major union organsiations who supported the pilots, becuase they were seen as greedy silvertails who didn't really fit the blue collar union image. Remeber too, that this bitter dispute was fought out under the tutelage of a LABOR government!
In recent years, industrial leverage has swung even more in favour of employers, and they have used this advantage to establish extensive part-time and casual workforces. These workers have very few conditions - sick leave, annual leave or penalty rates - and this environment has created an atmosphere where workers feel that they are "lucky" to have a job. They are lead to think only about their own circumstances rather than thinking of themselves as a collective group. I suggest that this phenomenon is probably a legacy of the rampant, militant unionism of the '70s.
In the current era, workers now feel that they have to compete with other for the "luxury" of a fulltime job. At QF, instead of being valued employees who fill the vital role of securing our employer's revenue, we are continuously barraged by the fact that we are their "biggest expense" and that we must continue to lose our conditions in order to remain competitive. To me, it is very sad that airlines now boast about being cheaper than each other, rather than offering a superior product. Low Cost carriers - who should be termed Low Wage carriers - are cropping up as the new sweatshops of aviation.
Meanwhile, the travelling public doesn't give a toss and would fly with "Air Bulgaria" - if they asked to operate in Australia and offered cheaper seats. Mind you, they still expect to get in-seat entertainment, complimentary meals and drinks and newspapers, despite travelling on tickets prices that would have been cheap for a bus in the 1980s. The airlines continue to believe that they have to offer this, but how can they afford it? "We're not competitive, we have to cut wages and conditions further!!"
So now Jetstar has set a new low for worker's conditions - "to remain competitive". Hell, there'll be pilots who'd still fly for less money just to get into a new jet - ask Next Generation! The employers know this and also know that QF pilots are in the vast minority. The pilot body is fractured and infighting is everywhere. AIPA missed the boat in representing Impulse pilots - there is no doubt about that. But, contrary to what Col Kurtz believes, AIPA does not actually ring me up and ask me what they should do! I also happen to be fairly busy raising my own family and don't have a lot of time to pre-empt what my employer will do on the industrial battlefield! If the action that they take is legal in accordance with Industrial legislation, I will NOT risk my family's future to fight on behalf of those who would undercut me.
And so we come to the Impulse/Jetstar situation. Proppy, when you mention that many Impulse pilots didn't meet QF recruitment standards, you are correct. But saying that here will just make you an "arrogant, eltitist QF w*nker". We now have AIPA negotiating conditions on behalf of Jetstar/Impulse pilots when we have no industrial coverage of them. And what are these pilots most concerned about? - gaining access to mainline seniority numbers and jobs. Boy! That'll really go down well with the Regional boys and girls! The only answer, of course, is to have mainline seniority numbers for all QF group pilots, and I sincerely hope that this is part of the package that is put to a vote later this year.
In the interim, Redsnail asks a very valid question - where do new licence holders go for a job. Should they haul around in GA on subsistence pay so as not to put pressure on QF conditions? Of course that situation is not going to happen - but ultimately this may be where the cycle stops. Because, ladies and gents, would you advise your children to take flying lessons for anything other than enjoyment? The days of a well-paid flying career are probably over - just look at Jetstar. Pay a $30,000 endorsement out of your own pocket to fly as an F/O on $60-70000 a year? How many years would it take just to break even? So, IMHO, this cycle will not end until the intakes at flying schools drop through the floor and GA dies a slow, painful death - some would say that that process may be starting to happen now. Only with a pilot shortage will conditions improve.
In the interim, pilots will continue to undercut each other and backstab each other just to get one of those "valuable" jet jobs. Hell, if there's to be a strike, the Colonel believes that it should be QF pilots who man the barricades and fight an industrial war to the death - after all, if those "arrogant, eltitist, QF w*nkers are all sacked, there'd be more jet jobs available, and probably even on a slightly higher rate of pay.
Proppy - sadly, the Australian aviation community - at least those who post on this forum - don't see QF pilots as the last bastion of good pay and conditions for airline flying in this country. To paraphrase Monty Python, they would gladly "cut us in 'alf with an axe and dance on our graves singin' halleluljah." Then they would undercut each other to secure our jobs at a vastly reduced payscale and convince each other that those "arrogant, eltitist QF w*nkers" had it coming to them! And their conditions would not improve until there were no longer any Next Generations behind them who would further undercut them!!
So Proppy, I admire your persistence and tenacity! Keep fighting the good fight as long as your blood pressure holds out - you will have at least one supporter.