Lawrie, thank you for the responses to date and for placing yourself in a position to answer some questions. I will put my hand up and say that I am one of the lucky ones who enjoy working for one of the respondents to the award who sees fit to reward its employees well. However I have no doubt that in this day and age of radical IR overhaul by the Federal Govt there is a need for a strong union to ensure at least the status quo remains.
The issues I raise are these....
* There is a significant CPL populous of an "older" age group (ie; married, second or even third career, family on the way or similar) that need to be able to take advantage of the advocacy of an industry group that will prove itself to be worthy and relevant to their needs. There are also a significant number of pilots who will never make the step into airline ops, and will remain at the "piston GA level" of the industry. While your recent gains in the NT are a fantastic indicator that things are progressing in the right direction, what steps has your organisation taken to filter this message down to the general CPL populous that membership will be a positive step toward the greater good?
* I talk to many who have joined the AFAP and while some will argue that I am wrong, I don't see the "coalface" being visited all that often by your organisation. Why? I would have thought that if an organisation (a Trade Union) of your calibre is to flourish and prosper in this climate of IR changes and uncertainty, then you must make strong cases for people to join and become members. I realise that because of GA pay rates and scales there is a smaller amount of "dues" coming in per member from the lower end GA sector, but wouldn't an increased membership allow more into the coffers to help promote further growth and advocacy, especially for those most vulnerable to exploitation? (I read of instructors on $12/flt hr etc).
* The GA industry isn't stupid, they do however
need to be shown what benefit you can be to them in negotiating on their collective behalf. You'd possibly be surprised that many from GA watch your organisations attempts at collective bargaining (and see the outcomes that seem almost not worth the effort) on behalf of some Airline Pilot Groups and ask themselves "what good they could possibly do me if they cannot get substantial concessions for larger pilot bodies?" There is no suggestion that there should be any form of ambit claim well beyond the bounds of reason (forcing mass redundancies), but after reading and hearing much of late about pay and conditions of some employers in parts of the country where the GA Award is not common rule, then one could be forgiven for thinking that places like (high profile at the moment) Nth Qld are out of sight, out of mind and simply do not exist in your scope of ops. How do you intend to change this bearing in mind that you have stated in your opening post that the AFAP will provide assistance, yet not represent those affected? I was under the impression that as a Trade Union "representation" was part and parcel of membership during times of dispute with an employer, whether singularly or as a group?
I guess that many (including myself) have not joined to date due many factors.... personal relevance, lack of disposable income and apathy.
Regards,
OpsN
