Union Bust 1,2 and 3 is a well crafted treatise on the recent glory days of Antipodean industrial relations. The research is vigorous, the arguments well made.The conclusions are, however, not compelling.
The fact that there has been no commentary on this theory says a lot in itself about the current state of play in CX.
I do not buy into the conspiracy theory per se, simply because I do not think the company capable of such depth of strategy and planning.
The current standoff will not end simply because the management does not wish it to end. Loss of face is not an option, for the round-eyes more so than for the orientals.
If one looks at the bigger picture, what we have today is the end result of some band aid measures put in place nearly 10 years ago. Management is that in name only. They are simply the owner’s representatives and as such find it impossible to retract bad decisions.
They will continue to intimidate the pilots simply because they can. It is the preferred option to telling the owner that a bad decision was made in the first place.
The feedback they are getting from the management pilots tells them they will win if they persevere with the current position.
Nobody is adding up the extra ten minutes per sector and the collective view is that we are bunch of spoilt nimrods who can easily be replaced.
Management will settle for nothing less than total acquiescence from the AOA. The new DFO is more polished than the old but I can assure you he is more determined than any of his predecessors to keep the cockpit door locked. No longer seen but not heard, the new policy will be out of sight and out of mind, even if costs 5 seats per sector from here to eternity.
Sadly, the only thing that will clear the roadblock is a big oil stain on the side of a mountain. Even then, however, we will be shown to be more like SQ than the CX of old.
The intent of this response is not to argue that paranoia is wrong but that it will not move the process forward. The AOA will never again have a seat at the big table. CX is not a career airline for pilots.Lets grow up and stop pretending it will ever be again. The residual goodwill is rapidly disappearing and management puts no value on its return.
The irony in the Patricks vs WWF battle is that Chris Corrigan got most of what he wanted even though he lost the moral case in the courts. The global commercial pressures finally caught up with the WWF. Following the re-instatements, new contracts were negotiated rewarding productivity. Unit costs were lowered drastically and Patricks returned to profitability in very short order.
The investment Corrigan made ultimately paid a handsome dividend. The political storm blew over, he laid low for a while as Patricks prospered; then to re-emerge into the spotlight as the main player in rail privatization in NSW and now Virgin Blue. The ultimate target must be the Ansett terminal assets. I couldn’t imagine the arrival of Chris Corrigan filled the Virgin pilots with glee, as a number of them in senior slots went through the trauma of 1989. Unlike Richard Branson, Corrigan is not known to smile before he eats you.
As much as I like a good conspiracy theory , I am not convinced the conclusions that flow towards the end of Part 3 stand up to rigorous scrutiny.
There is a lot of sensational journalism in Australia. The old skill of stringing one or two facts to a bow and pretending it’s a harp. It is just plain nonsense to ascribe mystical and magical powers to the HR Nicholls Society. It is not a coven of warlocks and witches plotting the overthrow of the working man. Rather, it is more of a gathering of legal windbags with political ambitions ( all be they right-wing).
The connection from secret society to CX union buster requires a huge leap of faith, the kind of faith that will have you believe that just because you are paranoid you have more than your fair share of enemies.
It is certainly a matter of public record that Freehills handled the Patricks strike against the WWF. As to how much of their involvement was paper delivery and how much was actual strategy is a matter of conjecture. Chris Corrigan giving them a public spray after his rebuttal, is a not enough to convince me.
I got very lost when Condor moved straight from Freehill’s role in the WWF joust to name them as the secret weapon employed to bust the AOA.
Most major law firms in Australia (not that many left these days) have a similar list of clients to Freehills. All use the names of blue-chip companies in their customer list to show pedigree.
Freehills is an Australian law firm that practices Australian law within the Australian jurisdiction. Whilst they have an office in HK it is essentially to service Australia or Australian interests of HK companies.
The connection with CocaCola is not relevant. Swire Bottlers has no linkage with Australia. Coca Cola in Australia is linked to Amatil.
Cathay Pacific built a large data center in Sydney some years back. That investment required a lot of legal support.
With basings must have come the need for the company to broaden IR legal support in all countries used for bases. Prudent and certainly no proof of planning a bust so many years later.
Many people in the larger Swire Group of companies have spent time in Australia. Swire has a broad range of business interests in Australia, PNG and the Pacific. I cannot make the direct connection in my own mind. Surely the Thatcher years in the UK would have provided a more potent list of UK-based IR legal firepower if that was the intent.
With respect, the use of legal advice does not constitute a conspiracy, as much as we may want to see one.
Keep that door locked!