Metro Man
To begin with, you seem to be comparing Apples to Oranges...
For a start, DJ cabin crew currently have quite good conditions of employment for domestic crew. They do not get paid the same as QF L/H crew because they are distinctively different flying jobs (short haul vs. long haul).
Secondly, QF as a legacy airline has absorbed many decades of changing conditions of employment as a result of give and take with it's crew (these days, of course, more take than give!)...compared with DJ who has only existed for 7 years.
With regard to baggage handlers earning more than turbo-prop tech crew...again, I imagine you're talking about QF baggage handlers, rather than comparing like with like. I don't imagine, for a second, that a REX baggage handler would earn more than a REX Turbo Prop F/O or Capt. I am, as always however, ready to be corrected.
Turbo-prop crew (both Tech and Cabin) have always historically earned less than those who work on jet aircraft - both here and in the US, for example. Size determines pay and so on - which is why QantasLink crew at Eastern & Sunnies, for example, earn less than their mainline counterparts. You can be assured that with
any turbo-prop operation, there exists very little fat in the system to pay one employee group better than the other, based on your idea of 'skill'.
"One problem with unions is enables people to be paid more than they are worth on the basis of their ability to cause disruption if they go on strike, rather than their skill."
Indeed, you are entitled to your opinion in this regard. However, the days where groups can go on strike repeatedly, at the drop of a hat, don't exist anymore under current IR legislation.
There seems to be an overriding assumption on your part - based on your posts - that cabin crew perform unskilled, manual labour with no real 'right' to earn what they do.
Let's briefly examine the role of Cabin Crew (QF particularly):
* Maintain language skills for use on selected routes - for some crew, their language skills have been developed through University, with the aim of flying in mind, costing thousands of dollars in HECS (their choice, I know, but no different to the budding pilot spending thousands on tuition, or even, endorsement??)
* Sit 6-monthly EP exams. Not essentially difficult for most of us, but there aren't many jobs where your continued employment rests on your successful pass of each exam (practical and theoretical), year in, year out
* Deal with medical situations, drunken passengers, inflight overdoses, etc. - situations most SKILLED people I know can't deal with even theoretically, and;
* Diffuse customer service situations unique to the role of flying...not everyone can do this, in spite of all the training you might provide
And to top it off...most of the crew I fly with hold degrees in one field or another. The idea that Cabin Crew in general do not deserve the money they earn - like those at QF - does not take into consideration the skills many possess, but may not necessarily display to you personally on your flights.
As for the AKL base, I couldn't agree with you more prunezeuss.
In closing, certainly, there are those who do not deserve to be in the job - but you get that in any profession, not just at Qantas, but anywhere. I wonder - is it a question of subservience/cultural differences? Or enough money being spent on product?
I've found that service can only go so far, if you don't have the resources or product to back it up. At 35,000 ft, with no working IFE, and limited catering, what do you do?? Short of becomg magicians, I'd be curious to see the response.