Insider Trader, how apt - someone corrupt who uses information immorally for personal gain. Says it all really. Although you can only live up to the example set by your CEO.
Never have i encountered such incidious and over-valued rhetoric as i have on these forums
That's rich, coming from a shiny bum who has:
never worked a weekend,
never worked a 12 hour nightshift,
never got his hands dirty
never been exposed to toxic, carcinogenic chemicals and electromagnetic radiation,
and by implication a part of the short-sighted 'corporatocracy' that has brought a world-renowned engineering organisation to its knees.
Have you read the papers recently, finding that working nightshift is a probable cause of cancer? Have you read the statitics that show shiftworkers on average die 5 - 10 years earlier than the rest of the population? Or that they have a higher divorce rate? I ask you, WHAT IS 5 - 10 YEARS OF YOUR LIFE WORTH TO YOU? AND DOMESTIC BLISS? AND A UNIFIED FAMILY?
The average age of LAMEs worldwide is 54. In Aus it's a bit less than that. What premium do you put on EXPERIENCE?
We are NOT car mechanics. The education process bears this out: 6 - 8 years to become a LAME (that's if the idiots in management deign to train anyone on type), then many years working under said conditions above before you can be called a 'good' LAME. How long did YOU spend at uni to gain your new-found 'wisdom'?
We are individually responsible for thousands of lives daily and millions of dollars of company assets, not to mention the 'public goodwill' associated with the worlds best engineering outcome. That's NO CRASHES FROM ENGINEERING DEFECTS, NOT "AFFORDABLE SAFETY". That is one of the few remaining reasons people buy Qantas tickets, busily being eroded by clowns like you.
the AIRC, would look very dimly on any wage rise in the current economic climate. You should consider yourselves lucky to get 3%.
Have you been reading the financial pages recently? National wages growth is on average 4.6%. We took a pay freeze in the past because QF was on hard times, only to have QF announce record profits. We stood by while management carved the heart out of QF Engineering by closing H245, awarded themselves ludicrous bonuses and acted corruptly during the APA bid; while we fought with one hand tied behind our backs to keep an under-resourced and over-utilised fleet in the air.
I would consider myself lucky to be working for
VB or JHAS, where LAMEs are truly valued. A single-licenced LAME on shift-work earns $78K. At
VB and JHAS it is over $100K. Unlike QF LAMEs their overtime and superanuation are based on their whole pay, not just on their base rate.
Those that wanted war over 5% would have soon found themselves a lifeless mess on the battlefield.
Lying alongside JV, MH, DC, PS, IO etc etc.
If the LAMEs were left a lifeless mess on the battlefield, how do you think Qantas Engineering, and the airline as a whole would be fairing?
We could've done far more damage from within the gates than from without. All we'd need to do is strap ourselves into the strait-jackets that management has made for us - using as our weapons unworkable policy and procedure. Keep that in mind next time you emerge from under your rock.
By the way, have you asked yourself why the CEO had to negotiate an EBA? Something he did in a day or two when his minions couldn't pull it off in 14 months? Oooh and don't let me forget that it hasn't been voted on yet! And there are some very unhappy campers among the LAMEs. The show aint over till the fat lady sings!
Your superannuation entitlement is fairly attractive IMO. At a rough estimate, most managed funds have been returning 12 - 15%pa on average over the past 5 years. I dare say that would probably outstrip the extra 2% wage rise p.a you soldiers wanted.
WRONG!
I compulsorily contribute 4% of my base rate, or 2.7% of my total pay!
The company contributes 5% of my base rate, or 3.5% of my total pay!
That's a total contribution of a mere 6.2% of my total pay!
Salary sacrifice gives me a tax saving of 1.18% on my gross pay. WOOPEE!
By the way, what's your super plan, Shiny-Bum? 9%? 10%? 11%?
I know this is a rumour network, but the best rumours have a basis in FACT, something you would hardly be acquainted with in your ivory tower.
And as for your 'measly' back pay, you have an opportunity to do something constructive with the bulk sum, eg a voluntary super contribution, more on the mortgage etc. Because i dare say that had most of you got that in your fortnightly wage for the past 12 months, it would have only been spent on beer and ciggies in the pub, while you all got sloshed and romanticised about how 'great' and 'indispensible' you all are.
Is that the best you can do?
We'll have to contribute some of the backpay to our super, to make up for the difference in super contributions we lost while the company delayed for 14 months. That backpay was an interest-free loan to the company. What interest did they earn or save on that? It's money that SHOULD'VE been in our pockets to do with as we see fit. Including piss it up against a wall or light it up. But since I don't smoke or drink, what SHALL I do with ALL THAT GELT? Oh yeah, maybe buy a share in one of those luxury yachts that were left on the slipway after the APA bid fell over.
The reality is people, this is a dynamic industry, and it stops for no one.
Oh excellent! I do hope so. More employment opportunities outside of Qantas, with people who truly value LAMEs.
One day, 'market forces' will catch up with Qantas. You learned about those in uni didn't you?
May i suggest that you give the company good reason in the future to want to offer you a worthwhile EBA,
Why yes, stirling advice. We may not be so nice next time. 2010 will be a different industrial environment to 2007/2008. Management incompetence will only be further exposed. They can only stick their testicles out so far before someone kicks them.
The corporatocracy rules the world now folks. Better get used to it!
Sounds like Gordon Gecko in 'Wall Street'. The likes of him got burned quite badly didn't they? No-one has managed to rule the world. Common-sense and the resistance of ordinary people usually prevails. Psychopaths like you come to a bad end my friend.
Come back sometime and we'll chat again when Qantas is an Employer of Choice.