shoppingcart: it is refreshing to see that there are still some people that can see the situation for what it really is - a headstrong company unwilling to bargain or meet any demands made by its crew.
There are countless free-riders complaining about the FAAA's lack of integrity, the FAAA siding with the company, the FAAA not doing enough to protect their working conditions and not exerting enough power. I am sick of hearing crew complain about the FAAA not doing enough for them when they aren't even paying members! If they are not willing to join the FAAA and appoint them as their bargaining representative in this process, then what exactly are they doing to help protect our conditions?
Virgin Blue management is quite aware of the fact that their cabin crew are
NOT united as only half of them are members of the FAAA. If you were a Virgin Blue executive, would you submit to the demands made by a union that only represents half of your workforce?
The union
is very conservative when it comes to the negotiation process and when dealing with breaches of the EBA on behalf of its members to ensure they do not affect company profitability in a detrimental manner. They do not want the company fined $30,000 for every breach of the EBA or have the company lose paying passengers as a result of a strike. They want the company to succeed financially as this will ensure that all of our jobs are protected.
However, I do agree with
ozangel in regards to a consistently conservative approach not yielding results. Now is the time for the FAAA to take whatever action is necessary to achieve the results they desire and it is also about time that, as cabin crew, we start utilising the strength that comes with
unity and use the expertise of a union to ensure that
collectively, we are bargaining on an equal footing with our employer.
It's quite simple really, if you're not part of the FAAA, who is representing you?
