I don't know that I will be able to convince Cornhole about this but... maybe some other readers might pick up on what needs to be done...
Would've been nice to have had a proper warning about this before it happened but there you go....
These government proposals don't just pop up.
This particular shafting has been in the pipeline for over a year, and has been in the public domain for over a year.
The Jan/Feb edition of
Australian Aviation ran it.
The friday aviation supplement (the one with all the job ads) of
The Australian ran the story.
The DOTARS website had full details on the proposal from January.
The AFAP were aware of it and had a formal position on the proposal, as least as far back as February this year.
How much publicity did you exactly need?
The lesson here is if we want to wear the label 'professional,' we have to take a look at what that means in other professions.
Simply turning up to work and taking the money doesn't qualify.
Among other things, it means reading industry news and journals.
If we don't do that, then we really have no excuse for being hit by these proposals.
Pilots in general like their jobs because the results of there work are immediately rewarding. Pilots also tend to rely heavily on information gained through visual inputs, followed by auditory inputs. Written communication comes a very unwelcome last. Nothing puts a pilot to sleep faster than a study session with a company operations manual or technical manual....bor-ing.
But the people that make the rules that we have to work under, come from a different world. If it is not written, it never happened. Memos, guidelines, policy and procedure manuals, white papers, discussion papers, surveys, ballots.
Only a fool would think these days that their little world will not be affected by change. Only a fool would thing that all of the changes that might be proposed would be ones that he or she welcomes.
The rule makers
must follow policy and procedure. They will give advance notice of rule changes.
Industry journals and forums will pickup these proposals and pass them on to us.
If we 'professionals' do no more than sign off at the end of the day and head for the bar, never paying attention to the news items in industry columns and journals, then we miss the first chance to stomp on the bright idea of some Canberra bureaucrat before it gets legs.
Once it gets to be voted on in parliament, the little bright idea that could be squashed like a mossie, is now a big cast iron proposal that has already been lobbied and considered, and we, rather than it, are the ones that get squashed.
Don't have a go at me for trying to keep myself informed, trying to let a few other colleagues know (via a post that had over 3,000 views), and getting off my butt and hassling the pollies.
If it had SFA effect, then it wasn't due to any lack of effort on my behalf; where were your letters? If I show you up for being a mug, instead of painting me as a smug b@astard, maybe you should stop and think... you have been a mug.
The lesson to be learned here is... if we are all happy to call ourselves professionals, then we have to not only know our day to day jobs as they are, b ut, like a doctor or accountant, actively keep ourselves informed of new developments. Then, if we don't like them, or have significant objections as to how they should be implemented, we then do as the Institute of Professional Engineers, the Australian Medical Associate, or the Institute of Charterd Accountants would do... bring effective political lobbying pressure to bear, to ensure that their professional member's position is heard.
Unfortunately all that seems to happen in the world of 'professional' pilots, as seen on this forum, is tidbits of discussion about how to get a better job, which other mug has just done a wheels up, how much better pilots at airline x are compared to my company.... etc.
Keeping abreast of developments in one's industry is a must do item for other professions, as is presenting the views of the profession coherently and concisely to the government and the public.
Thats what we don't do, and the fault is ours.
If you haven't scanned AA and the Aussie for news items, if you haven't raised your concerns with the appropriate agency about their plans before they turn them into law or policy, if you don't engage in basic politics, such as writing or meeting your local MP, or raising your concerns within your professional organisation..... well then you just have to cop it sweet.
The frustrating thing is that none of these things are difficult to do, and you don't put your job or your liberty at risk when you do them. If you don't get off your arse and do them, then what is all the fuss about wanting to live in a democracy about?