Overseas Crew Base
Oh Dear Me ...........the plot thickens.
They have now decided to pull out of the woodwork they want an overseas crew base. They have never mentioned this to us once and are now trying to cover it up with an email from our CEO.
Read this....it makes for good reading. They obviously think they have hired a bunch of stupid, naive twits.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As you will be aware, we met with the FAAA again today with the objective
of finalising your EBA.
Unfortunately, we were not able to reach agreement. I believe the FAAA
will now be organising membership meetings.
The main difference between AO and the FAAA in these negotiations is that
AO wants to remove constraints on potential growth opportunities that may
arise over the next three years. The FAAA wants to hold on to these
constraints ? or only concede them for improved conditions or higher pay
such as additional increments. AO made only $1m last year and we simply
cannot afford to increase the costs of potential growth.
The constraints we need to remove are
- only being able to use B767-300 aircraft
- not being able to fly to destinations beyond a 4 hour time zone change
- being restricted to a single class service NO MENTION OF J CLASS PREVIOUSLY BTW
- not being permitted to establish an overseas cabin crew base FIRST I HAVE HEARD OF IT ?
I would like to stress that we have no current plans to use any of these
additional flexibilities. The proposed term of the new EBA is three years,
and three years is a long time in the airline industry today. To ensure
our continued viability, we must be in a position to pursue new
opportunities as they arise. This is the only way of protecting our
business and the job security of our current employees.
The FAAA's position is that the lifting of the constraint on overseas crew
bases is a new claim by AO. AO's position is that EBA I explicity provided
for the constraint on overseas bases to end at the expiry of EBA I.
Unfortunately, neither side clarified this issue earlier in the
negotiations.
As you will recall, we have offered a 3% per year pay increase. We have
also offered other benefits including:
- payment of allowances fortnightly
- increase in guaranteed pure flying lines from half to two-thirds of
all lines
- enhanced roster request and swapping arrangements
- salary sacrifice options
- part-time work, and
- improved maternity leave.
These benefits are in addition to other improvements we have made in
response to employee feedback outside EBA I, for example, staff travel,
annual leave allocation, alternate paxing and Christmas rosters.
The AO management team is absolutely committed to Australian Airlines and
will not do or agree to anything that jeopardises its future.