Sorry to get involved in all this as I don't work for QF. I'm an aussie that has been living in London for 9 years and I have really fond memories of QF. So much so that I actually considered leaving BA to join QF @ LHR, but when I got a job offer and seen the salary details and terms and conditions no way! What has happened at QF? I usually fly home to SYD via NRT with BA/QF on stand-by and find QF brilliant on that route. I haven't experienced QF direct LHR-SYD but my sis (who is SYD based crew with QF) says QF has been a bit of a shambles, particularly on the european routes for a while now.
My question is this though. When was the last time QF actually employed permanent mainline crews (long or short-haul). Do they still do it? Or is it now all dodgy contracts? Why has your union got nowehere in halting these foreign bases or at least making them mainline bases with decent terms and conditions? Why did the strike that was threatened never happen? Is it because over the years you have slowly got so many temps/casual/foreign based crews that the QF operation could be maintained even if the oz based permanent crews did strike? Or did the union just lay down and take it?
Just curious...