Not all the Pilots that went O/S in 89 went to well paid jobs. . .I remember in the early 90's when my father called me at the house that I was sharing with 3 other 89ers.. He asked "how's life?", trying not to be negative my Answer was Life's interesting, the local are treating us well and our accommodation is not too good...The rest of the conversation was drowned out by Barking and Howling by my Flatmates( We called it the Doghouse) The rent of this place was US$800/month (200 each). My salary was US$1100-1300/month (incl allowances)and we had to pay the rent. We had no travel rights and due to the restriction of our Visa could not leave the country until we had completed 6 months employment.
Now what happened in 1989 was not my fault or 99% of the Pilots that were caught up in it. I voted no to the dispute but I also elected to stay out.. .The elder group of my family are Lawyers, Business managers and Aviation middle managers so I was used to the dinner that included half an hour of Union bashing. The fact is one of my many lessons in life is that Unions definately have their place. . .The AFAP's role was determined by the control that Abeles had over Hawke, Strong and Kelty. The Federation with their 2nd class Legal team helped contribute to the 89 dispute being blown out of hand.. .When Hawke declared "War" on us and proceeded to insult our profession I felt that Aviation in Australia was not going the direction that I wanted so I left on my O/S adventure.
We will spend much of our energy hating each other within the Pilot fraternity of OZ whilst Airline managers in Australia continue to degrade Pilot's conditions.
I have no regrets to moving overseas. Everybody in that $800 house has done very well. And I don't have the undying hatred that some have towards the ones who went back. . .You reap what you sow. There have been personal disasters on both sides. . .But I feel there still is a lot of ignorance to the events of 12 years ago.