SDT,
Whilst i am happy to be proven incorrect, it appears to me fanciful to suggest that NJS Pilots ( or any Pilot ) is happy to pay membership to another Union, as their present union was unable to provide the support requested/needed, and continue to pay 1% percent to the original non performing organisation.
If you haven't worked it out by now, I am a little closer to the action than you. You are a spectator that has just walked through the gate. I am on the field and playing the game, mud on the jersey, copping a finger in the eye, etc.
It is not "fanciful". It is hard numbers, mate. I have no need to imagine or theorise -- I know the numbers because I see the roll.
The fact that the situation is counter-intuitive is what makes it remarkable. Scores of NJS AFAP members joined the TWU, and all bar one, have retained their expensive AFAP membership.
There will be no stoppages, no strikes, no secondary boycotts. -- I am not so certain of this, perhaps you should have a chat with the TWU rep. These are not the most impacting options at hand, are they?
I have had several chats with RB. What did he tell you when
you rang him?
Good on them, when work was lean they bit the bullet with the operator, now times are good, a little in return is deserved.Good luck !!
I am now certain that your knowledge and dealings with NJS are from the periphery, if at all. Bit the bullet with the operator?!?!? That is the language of cooperation, when the reality is we were rolled!
"A little in return is deserved?" What the....?
Listen up. Large companies do not listen to words like "deserved" or "loyal" when it comes to wage claims. They'd have you for breakfast if that was how you approached an EBA negotiation.
Large businesses use words like Required Productivity Gains, EBITA, Key Performance Indicators, Internal Competitiveness, blah blah blah. Words that translate as -- greatest output for minimum cost.
They don't give a rat's arse about how good you think you are. Hours only matter if it meets CASA minimums. Experience on type or on glass only matters because it reduces training costs. Knowing how to apply an MEL in a way that is both (a) safe (b) legal and (c) avoids grounding the jet at an outport is appreciated by very few outside the flight ops department, if any.
They only start caring when their ability to put aeroplanes in the sky, on time and earning money, is affected.
Having perfectly serviceable aeroplanes sitting on the tarmac when they could be generating revenue, gets their attention. And if it is because their aint' enough pilots, then they start looking at the problem. If it is persistent, then they will only throw more money at it if that is the only way out.
The only thing that stands in the way of that, is a couple of generations of we pilots that are conditioned to "keep the show on the road" and accept callouts on RDO, duty extensions, etc. I am one of that generation too.
The point that I try to make, too forcefully it seems sometimes, yet it doesn't sink in, is that no company is going to hand you significantly better conditions without individual pilots being prepared to make a fuss, and ruffle a few feathers, using
legal and actionable means.
The only people that can effect the changes we want in our workplaces, is us. You and I together. Not the union, not the workplace rep, not the government.
If you want something changed in the current industrial environment, you have to cop some flak yourself. You have to bear with situations that are uncomfortable, tense, not clear cut. You have to talk the language of business and place dollar values on our colleagues talent, capability, specialist skill sets, competitive advantage, proven problem solving ability. Not schoolyard tenets of 'deserve' or 'fair'. You have to be prepared to bear some of the risk, and accept short term loss. You have to be patient and wait for strategies to come to fruition, sometimes months later.
"Double Pluggers" are the same for cheap rubber thongs ( you know the ones with the double plugged straps in the middle ) .
Typing this in Darwin NT. It was 30 degrees today, the 21st July -- Singlet and thongs are
de rigeur 
I must point out that double pluggers are not cheap rubber thongs. Double pluggers are
superior thongs. They are much more durable, the double plug design meaning that you are less likely to suffer a blowout and resulting cuts and abrasions as you scurry for muddies in Rapid Creek. Moreover, if they are made of proper rubber, they are not cheap.
