On face value this seems like a great deal. However, with the record of the company towards us, I can only feel a great sense of unease as to what the hidden agenda may be. You cannot trust QF as far as you could kick them. So why are they so happy about this deal when it looks as though they have caved in to us?
My personal concerns;
As to the foreign bases, the cap of 25% will appear to indicate a massive increase in the numbers of foreign workers. If they increase the AKL base dramatically, is it possible this base will undertake a larger portion of the States flying leaving us with more regionals, ie. less pay, less overtime?
As for the 380, it is implied in one of the articles I read in the paper that Qantas has stated it will be exclusively crewed by members of the new Cabin Crew Company. Is it possible this will exclude us current longhaulers? What will this mean for long range flying in 3 years from now?
I also have some serious reservations along the lines of others here that the divide and conquer strategy is alive and well and this will possibly be the final hurrah for us longhaul crew. The company is indicating it will massively increase longhaul numbers as quick as possible, and within 5 years the B scale crew will outnumber the A scale crew most probably. When this happens all I can see is payback big time. It is hardly likely that those who do the same job for more hours/less pay will be willing to fight to protect us. Rather, they will all see us as people who have sold them out to protect ourselves, so they will follow the lead and do the same to us in return - protect themselves at our expense.
I believe that the election has really changed nothing. The belief among many that QF are scared of us and a Labor government is misleading. The chances of us all going on strike are remote, and with the way the current workforce is structured it is hardly likely we could bring the airline to a halt. Sure we could disrupt it, but somehow I think QF would love to see this happen to further alienate ourselves, and cause more division among crew.
So I am left feeling like this is a great deal, but deep down there is a lot of concern that surely there are some hidden agendas, and a few aces up the sleeve of the company. There is a possibility that we could be about to get some very nasty surprises in the way the detail is interpreted.
The fact that we are responsible for a B scale is also something that weighs heavily on my mind. Can we prevent it? Perhaps not. However, it will eventually result in the death of conditions as we know it. How long that takes I don't know. But it will eventually.
So while I think the union has done well, the jury will not have all the evidence to find the parties guilty or innocent until anther 1 or 2 years down the track.