No disrespect to Captain Jackson, as he strikes me as a dedicated leader of the AIPA. I must say though, that after watching his performance tonight on Lateline (31/10/2011), I have to wonder if he's the person best suited to be publicly speaking on behalf of the AIPA.
While I'm sure he discharges the duties and responsibilities of his role as president of AIPA with all the integrity, intellect and diplomacy this post requires, one can only conclude that his presence on Lateline tonight was a lost opportunity for the pilot group to get their points of view across to the viewing audience.
He was clearly nervous, and that is understandable given the magnitude of the situation. However he lacked any clearly articulated answers to the questions put to him, and at times it seemed even the simplest of responses were vague, disjointed and fumbled through. There was no polish or sense of authority in his delivery.
The questions put to him were dollies, loaded with opportunities to articulate and expand on the pilots' positions on key issues, events and concerns. It was almost as if the presenter was deliberately feeding Captain Jackson the questions the pilots have been longing for the media to ask for all these past frustrating months. In short it was a chance to put the heat back on the company and apply the blow torch.
I'm sorry to say that by the end of the interview he looked like a man who had been searching for the truth and who wasn't comfortable with his answers. AIPA can't hold a press conference ever five minutes and expect the media to turn up. Qantas management can - and will! In the next few weeks they're going to take every opportunity afforded them to hammer home their position. Again and again and again.
This was one of the few opportunities you get to put across your position; where you're the only ones getting air time. No management shouting you down, or other unions fighting to get their members concerns heard over yours.
I'm not a huge fan of the TWU's man. He strikes me as the kind of person who has only enough RAM in his head to remember four sentences at a time. But by the time the interview is over you've heard those same four sentences repeated forty times. You know his position in no uncertain terms. By the end of Captain Jackson's interview tonight all you 'kind of knew' was that it's 'kind of not about the money', and 'kind of about engagement'............'kind of'. With lots of ums and ahs thrown in.
There's twenty days . . .. and counting . . .. unless the conciliation period is extended. There's only a small window of opportunity to change popular opinion. You can tell after Joyce's stuff up grounding the fleet there's a change in the prevailing wind, and a definite chance to win the masses over to our side. While I'm not a Qantas pilot, I do feel like we're all in this together. Every kick needs to be a goal though.
So my question is this - given that this is the end game and there is so much at stake - do you not feel that it would be prudent to dip into the war chest and employ some
PR professionals? At the very least they would be able to create talking points and structure some pre-packaged answers and fall back points. This would then ensure that those who talk on behalf of the union membership stand the best chance of impressing the media, the public, (and maybe even the bosses), as to their professionalism, their coherence and their credibility.
There can be little doubt that the aviation industry in Australia continues to need a strong Qantas. Looking to the role of the pilots will play in contributing to this long term objective , I believe the union must be successful in securing Australian jobs for Australian pilots now. If not, they will be too weak in the future to stop management imposing their will on what will be left of the Qantas work force.
In short AIPA - it's time to bring out your A game!
The Monster!
