Kelpie, you are barking up the wrong tree. As Lawrie has pointed out, the Jetstar EBA is a pre Fair Work EBA. The BOOT (better off overall test) did not apply and nothing has been tested with regard to the transitional arrangements from Workchoices to the Fair Work Act with respect to the Jetstar EBA.
If a cadet has a problem with the base pay then all they have to do is start the grievance procedure as outlined within their EBA. Before they do that they should have a look at what the Air Pilots Award (what the BOOT test is compared against) provides for FO’s on A320 equipment.
Air Pilots Award $81,781 (Base = $71,397, Jet = $5,524, Instrument = $4,860).
Jetstar Junior FO 2011 $57,118 + 6% Retention = $60,545.
Jetstar Junior FO 2012 $58,831 + 6% Retention = $62,360.
The Cadets are on the flexi line deal but guaranteed the full time JFO pay (the above pay rates). The flexi line deal is a part time policy with 75% availability (working 15 days per month instead of 20).
If you apply the same pro ration to the Air Pilots Award, you end up very close with $81,781 x 0.75 = $61,335. So a commissioner my be less sanguine than yourself when confronted with a bolshie cadet, who originally signed up for a crap $42,000 NZ contract, with 6 years of debt servitude. Remember, the Cadet is not paying a single cent for their training under this deal (originally they were paying in the vicinity of $80,000), in fact, they are having all monies paid to Jetstar REFUNDED!!
Thanks to the AFAP’s legal strategy, the cadet has been blessed with incredible good fortune. They signed onto a crap NZ deal, and then walked away with free training and an A320 endorsement, enough seniority to be based on the east coast of Australia and covered by a collective agreement.
There will be no more cadets with this luck.
Where is Lawrie shouting victory from the rooftops now??
The silence is deafening!!!
Kelpie, you are being mischievous and stirring up trouble. If AIPA want to test this arrangement, go right ahead, but as the Majority of Jetstar pilots are discovering, they haven’t been successful in any single attempt. Instead, they have been setting dangerous precedents left right and centre by challenging and loosing weak cases time and time again. These precedents ultimately weaken any future challenge before they get started. Sometimes it is better to keep your powder dry and fight from a position of strength.
For those with the AIPA blinkers still firmly strapped to their noggins, have a close read of the AIPA insights dated 2 September 2011 which relates to the Jetstar Cadet issue and answer one question:
Insights
The result would not have been possible without your support in challenging the Company and asking why the need existed to circumvent the EBA. Of course, impending Federal Court Cases by both AIPA and the AFAP, as well as the complaint lodged by AIPA with the Fair Work Ombudsman, created a very strong incentive for the company to solve this problem out of Court, and to its credit the Company has seen reason in this instance an changed its approach to dealing with AIPA.
WHAT IMPENDING FEDERAL COURT ACTION IS AIPA TALKING ABOUT???
I would contend that the only reason the company saw any sense with regard to the Cadet issue (and flexi line employment) is that the AFAP were putting the companies balls in a vice with their two applications in the Federal Court.
I challenge anyone to find AIPA’s application to the Federal Court.
AIPA has been caught with their pants down in dealing with the biggest threat to the Jetstar pilot EBA and ultimately collective bargaining in this industry. If Jetstar was successful in undermining the pilots EBA, the contagion would have spread through the industry, eventually undermining every collective agreement including the Mainline longhaul agreement. Thank your lucky stars there are still some AFAP stalwarts in Jetstar that saw off this threat. Red ties and sternly worded PA’s are no match for the ruthless operatives at the helm of Jetstar.