I have never written a story about the engineer's dispute. I wrote many critical ones on my views on Qantas management however - just see Australian Aviation.
My responses were to direct radio and TV questions...which were "is Qantas safe?"
And the answer for the lay public was yes. Short radio and TV forums are not the place for long winded discussion on the fine detail of disputes.
Did Qantas management at the time do the wrong - absolutely!! It caused heart break and grief for thousands and let's hope we have seen the end of it.
BTW I did a 45 minute program at 4am about six months ago on ABC Australia wide radio discussing the dispute where I praised the engineers and mentioned what QF management had done. Had quite deal of feedback and in particulay one engineer's wife from Geelong if my memory serves me well. She had just dropped her husband off at work.
I also spoke to many engineers who are freinds off record.
And yes I will do a story on the entire dispute for Australian Aviation - warts and all!! And for ATW!
Best GT