The FAAA delegates do deserve appreciation and respect for the work they put in. And they are also an easy target when it comes to venting frustration about work conditions, especially when cabin crew are involved. I certainly don't have the stomache for the confrontation they deal with both behind closed doors with the company or on line with their fellow work mates.
Having said that after yesterday's roadshow and the misinformation that surrounds this EBA, I am more than a little disappointed with the "wave the white flag" mentality that is being presented to us.
At no time through out this process has the FAAA highlighted the fact that you will be able to sign-off in the am and sign-on in the pm. No big deal I hear you say? Try having a life when you fly back of the clock, have to try to sleep during the day and then sign-on for a duty that night. And I know both the company and the FAAA are telling me they have limitations on rostered BOC. But if I do nominate live to try to earn a decent living then I can be assigned more BOC on those days as well. And according to the FAAA we are own worst enemy as we try to earn more money from this system. I agree, I just can't pay my mortgage otherwise.
The argument from both AJ and the union that the schedule does not have that many BOC duties ( "I don't know what all the fuss is about" ) is just ridiculous. In the past year alone JQ has had growth above and beyond all expectation. New routes, new ports, new schedules. I'm not stupid enough to think that in 2 years time under this proposed EBA all those QF BOC duties won't be coming to us. Try to remember the fact that we are QF group and we are Dixon's project and if he can make a dollar more by using us instead of mainline he will. It's not aceptable to be working a BOC shift and not be compensated. It's not about the dollar value it's about the value of your home life and how much your work affects that.
In the end whatever we agree to will be used for the company's benefit. It's all about the business and according to the company there are plenty of people behind us waiting to get in. It doesn't make it fair, it doesn't make it right, it's just an indication of how quickly our conditions will go down the tiolet to ensure a healthy profit at the end of the year.
JQ flight attendants, we are not Ryan Air, we are not Europe or Asia, we are Australian and we have the right to stand up for what we believe to be a fair pay for a fair days work. JQ management compare us to other low cost operators worlwide, but our standars of living and work practices our worlds apart. Perhaps we could save JQ some more money by replacing our own management with a team from Calcutta, apparently they don't cost much either!
Vote NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!