Dear Sue,
Please be advised that ALAEA LAME members working for Qantas will not be taking Protected Industrial Action on May 16th or 17th. We understand that the airline has struggled during the last week with many unexpected aircraft unserviceabilities of which many are engine related. We are also aware of extensive corrosion currently being uncovered on an aircraft that had previously been maintained overseas that should have been prevented as its early signs would have been evident during its previous check. With lack of spares (particularly engines) leaving the Qantas network already strained, we don’t feel it in the interests of either party to compound the problems with Protected Industrial Action at this time.
For comfort sake, you should also be aware that we do not intend to take action at any time in the next 4 weeks.
During this period we expect to continue conciliation before Fair Work Australia in a meaningful fashion. We do not expect Qantas to continue to say no to each one of our job security concerns; we want to work towards a mutually beneficial outcome that would secure the ability to carry out maintenance on Qantas current and future aircraft within Australian facilities where the quality of the final product is second to none.
Should no agreement be reached it will not be through want of trying on behalf of the ALAEA. This hiatus should not be viewed by the airline as an opportunity to procrastinate, train strike-breakers or grow the amount of backpay to be used at a later time as a bargaining chip. It’s an opportunity for Qantas to get it’s maintenance back on track and its aircraft prepared for what they should be doing. An outcome reached through negotiation has always been our aim and we urge the airline to make the most of this opportunity.