From the SMH.
Qantas hopeful strike will be avoided
Qantas hopeful strike will be avoided
April 4, 2011 - 9:54PM
AAP
Qantas says it hopes to head off industrial action and is confident customers won't be disrupted if negotiations with its workers fail.
Pilots, engineers and thousands of the company's ground staff have threatened to strike over pay and job security.
The airline's chief executive, Alan Joyce, says the unions have threatened industrial action a number of times over many years.
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He has warned industrial action in any form "will make things worse, it doesn't make things better".
"A strike means everyone loses."
If there was an industrial dispute, Qantas management would roll up their sleeves to try to avoid disruption to passengers.
Mr Joyce said that as a manager he had worked on the check-in desk during past strike action.
"There's always contingencies of some form that we can put into place."
The company says it hopes the issues won't lead to industrial action. Mr Joyce said there were other forms of industrial action staff could take, rather than just walking off the job.
© 2011 AAP