25th July 2006
Attention All Qantas Long Haul Flight Attendants
CLAUSE 11 OUTRAGES - Dispute notified by FAAA in the Commission
Qantas Long Haul Cabin Crew would well be aware that the FAAA has written on a number of occasions about Disciplinary proceedings involving crew. What we haven’t effectively conveyed to you is our utter frustration in dealing with a level of sheer incompetence with “a few” in cabin crew management.
We have attempted to find sensible solutions to the performance management of cabin crew and for the most part it works fine and most in cabin crew management strike the right balance between affording procedural fairness to the crew member and considering whether an investigation should be handled via an informal discussion rather than a formal process
Last night we handled an emergency call from a member of over 20 years advising that a CCTM had stood him down and was holding him out of service as a result of allegations of serious misconduct. The letter sent to the member contains the allegation that “you were seen putting a UNICEF envelope in your back pocket”. Clearly some CCTM’s are not aware that there is no actual back pocket in the Morrissey Uniform.
The member was horrified at the implication of that allegation and immediately offered to meet with the Company the next day to discuss the matter. This request was denied and on that basis the call was terminated.
From the FAAA’s perspective any allegation should be investigated. But we insist that holding someone out of service on the spurious allegations of putting an envelope in his pocket would capture most if not all Cabin Crew in the same boat at some stage. To suggest that the act of putting an envelop in a pocket or apron pocket is somehow justification for allegations of theft and standing a person down and holding them out of service will not be tolerated by the FAAA.
To that end we have sought legal advice and intend to notify an immediate dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission in relation to the total mismanagement of this Clause 11 process by Cabin Crew Management.
We have no desire to damage Qantas, its public image or the image of our members. The suggestion that a Flight Attendant would potentially steal UNICEF funds is anathema to this organisation and every flight attendant who has supported it willingly over many years.
Given the ease with which a spurious allegation can be made we suggest that flight attendants may wish to modify their approach to the UNICEF collection. If it becomes necessary for the issue to be dealt with by further advice to flight attendants we will not hesitate to do so.
The crew member concerned is totally devastated by the process and the allegation. What we find appalling is that it was made by another flight attendant. Further we say the whole matter could have been resolved on the aircraft.
Written and authorised by Michael Mijatov – Secretary International Division
Copyright © 2006 FAAA
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