I have to agree SOPS. I clearly remember 89 and no one should underestimate the similarities.
To my QF union mates may I suggest it is time for a cold shower. Without change and innovation the Qantas we all remember (some through rose coloured Ray Bans) simply will not exist in a decade. However you can choose to be a part of the solution for change, or you can choose to get out of aviation!..and it is your choice!
As an interested observer from the sidelines it seems to me that it is not a lack of good faith, but a lack of ideas. Maybe it is time to bring in some fresh blood into the negotiations. If you are smart enough to safely navigate billion of dollars of hardware around the world everyday, surely collectively there is enough smarts to come up with ideas that will make a positive contribution to ensuring QF's future viability.
Something sadly missing from the debate here!
As a platinum frequent flyer I and most others I talk to in the lounge have had enough. We are bored with the debate, we see it as a throw back to the past days of unions out of control, and we also know how hard it is in business. As an ex pilot I sympathise, but as a businessman who spends a lot of money with QF (and SQ, CX, EK) we also sympathise with Alan Joyce who has a huge responsibility to the shareholders, and for that matter a lot of other stakeholders. Love him or hate him, he is the guy in the hot seat, but this battle can't be won the way it is being fought.
If you don't want foreign pilots in QF aircraft, then make yourselves indispensable. The way this argument is going it will only hasten making Aussie pilots irrelevant.
Get with the program and be part of the solution... Remember 89!