The comments by Metro Man, to me seem to come across as coming from someone with some sort of axe to grind rather than someone who worked for Ansett.
I have some experience with Ansett, having flown freight on their behalf. If their loaders were representative of the rest of the company then I'm surprised they lasted as long as they did. Basically there were twice as many loaders used, they took twice as long and were paid twice as much, compared to other companies we flew for
I've got no axe to grind, just looking at things realistically. If Ansett had moved with the times, it might still be around today and the employees would still have jobs.
Incompetent management, unbending unions and a staff expecting to be paid far in excess of what they produce will kill any company.
When thing inevitably collapsed, the employees were on the news in tears expecting the government to step in and keep the party going. Canberra quite rightly refused but did put a tax on air ticket sales to ensure staff entitlements were paid. What was so special about Ansett staff when many companies go broke (including one I worked for) leaving their employees out of pocket ?
Once out in the real world, how many ex Ansett staff found other jobs with similar pay and conditions ?