G'day Prof
My point was that many Jet* pilots may simply translate their current days off, hourly rate, the prospects of 'overtime' for exceeding 75 hrs/mth and 1000 hrs/yr onto their coveted international opportunity and conclude 'PAYRISE-TAKE IT' only to have the reality, learned through many years of QF flying by AIPA, turns to relative dust.
'Stick pay' contracts to which you refer, like the QF short-haul contract, are efficient when the flying is multi-sectored & minimum rest between duty days; they afford opportunities for max ours at higher pay rates, more nights in your own time-zone (if not your own bed) and more days off because of flying density. The QF long-haul contract, while far from perfect and not lacking in opportunity to improve efficiency, has been framed over many iterations, each of which the company has agreed upon in EBAs, which address exactly the type of situation where commercial decisions failed to address any humanising factors.
I sense that the JPC has been skillfully bamboozled into accepting the worst of both styles of contract; low pay and poor conditions. In light of the discussions which have transpired, and advice offered re the pitfalls of unfettered enthusiasm without consideration for the realities of rostered life as long-haul plots experience them to be, I'm disappointed at the acceptance reached but trust that the JPG will yet realise the deal (as heard here anyway) is not what it's cracked up to be.