Friend of mine who works for QF passed on this as the reason for the "lockout".
This was apparently the text of the email sent to QF Pilots:
Take notice that:
In accordance with section 414(5) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), Qantas Airways Limited (Qantas) hereby gives notice of a lock out of employees of Qantas who will be covered by the proposed Qantas Airways Limited Flight Crew (Long Haul) Enterprise Agreement 8 (EA 8) in accordance with the provisions of this notice below.
The lockout is organised and engaged in as a response to the following industrial action:
• ongoing ban relating to compliance with the Qantas uniform policy and substitution with an AIPA approved uniform policy; and
• ongoing ban relating to compliance with Qantas cabin announcement policy and substitution with an AIPA approved announcement.
So let me see....... wearing red ties with the slogan "QANTAS flight, QANTAS Pilot" and making a 30 sec. announcement seems like a good reason to ground an airline- not.
Militant pilots or militant management - you decide.