Does it seem funny to anybody here that, after Qantas spent vast sums of money building a new heavy maintenance facility in brisbane, and a few pennies on Avalon, that they are prepared to throw all that away and move to China?
I think that anybody could see that the writing was on the wall for Sydney heavy maint. There is only so much acreage at mascot and the heavy maint. shed is a logical choice to move. However, following the capital expenditure involved in Avalon and particularly Brisbane, where is the logic in throwing all that away?
My next question is; does anybody have any idea what changes will be required in the current arrangements to retain these jobs in Australia? Mr Dixon will sing long and loud that changes to the status quo are desparately required. Will he please inform the world as to exactly what they are? People are sick and tired of being threatened and blackmailed. Yet, when pressed for further detail as to what a group of people has to do to maintain their livelihoods, all we seem to get is silence.
I for one am very flexible when it comes to workplace agreements. However, I cannot understand people who proclaim that drastic change is required in a workplace yet refuse to spell out exactly what those changes are.
As a person who has already been thrown onto the scrapheap once in the past few years, I am prepared to bend over backwards to try and maintain jobs in this country. My worry is that no matter how much I give, I will never be able to compete with some slave in China earning one dollar per hour.
Hopefully, sense will prevail. Qantas will consolidate its heavy maintenance in Brisbane and Victoria. If the IR changes go through, people will have to swallow some changes to working conditions. However, jobs will remain in Australia. I hope. If a decision has already been secretly made to do otherwise then Mr Dixon is a far more cruel individual than anybody would believe.
Plenty of people who have only worked for the one company their whole life may be tempted to call Dixon's bluff. I wouldn't. Under this federal gov't. he has all the aces up his sleeve. Only thing one can do now is wait for the next federal election and boot the liberals out. Dixon will be long gone by then. Resting on his many millions in the bar of his Wagga pub. Good luck to him. Just hope that a future Gov't. will reign in some of these changes that are coming and bring back some sanity to workplace relations in this country.