Cabin crew's union says fasten seatbelts
Tues "The Australian"
Cabin crew's union says fasten seatbelts
By Steve Creedy, Aviation writer
July 06, 2004
THE union representing Qantas flight attendants is preparing for industrial trouble later this year as it starts a series of meetings today to gauge reaction to the airline's plans to base 400 long-haul cabin crew in London.
The Flight Attendants Association of Australia will hold four three-hour meetings in Sydney and one each in Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth over the next fortnight to discuss the issue.
While none of the meetings would affect Qantas operations, union officials said they would set the stage for industrial action when an enterprise agreement expired in December.
The FAAA is unhappy the proposal breaches a cap limiting the number of foreign-based flight attendants Qantas can employ to 370.
It is worried that moving flight attendants offshore will limit long-haul destinations available to Australian-based crew and compromise the union's ability to take industrial action.
"We will be indicating this will be fought, and not with words," said FAAA international division secretary Michael Mijatov. "There's going to be trouble ahead."
Qantas yesterday described the FAAA's comments as "highly unusual" and said there was no need for industrial action.
Qantas spokesman Michael Sharp said applications for the London jobs would not open until the middle of this month and the airline was prepared to keep talking with staff and the FAAA.
"We don't believe there is any justification for industrial action," Mr Sharp said. "No jobs will be lost as a result of this initiative, the positions in London are being offered to Australia-based cabin crew first, they will be given priority and it is entirely voluntary."
Cabin crew headed to London would be offered an average pay of pound stg. 24,050 ($51,549).
"The salary packages they've got will be comparable to what they're earning now and competitive with cabin crew based in the United Kingdom," Mr Sharp said. "For example, it will be higher than Virgin Atlantic."
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