Nepotism,
A great article, and just an extract from it below.
In the hearing before FWA, there was no indication from members of the full bench that they agreed with Joyce's odd rationale. In any case, FWA was concerned with preventing the airline's planned lockout of its staff. Ultimately, the Fair Work Act worked smoothly, with FWA holding a full bench hearing and then ordering a stop to Qantas' planned lockout. In the end, there was no lockout and not a single worker lost a day's pay.
So, what does this episode tell us about Qantas and the current state of industrial relations in Australia? It exposes a senior management team willing to trash its own company's brand, cause irreparable harm to the Australian economy as well as inconvenience its customers for stated reasons that defy logic.
It is worth noting that FWA found that the unions' industrial campaign had not caused significant economic harm, as Qantas pilots had not taken any strike action, instead restricting their campaign to making in-flight announcements airing their grievances to passengers. The only factor causing significant economic damage was management's grounding of the fleet.
There was nothing about the events of that weekend that call into question the efficacy of the Fair Work Act. Ultimately, the government intervened when it received notification of the Qantas decision and a full-bench hearing of FWA took place, leading to the termination of all industrial action, well in advance of the planned commencement of the lockout. By any measure, the Fair Work Act came out smelling of roses. Qantas, on the other hand, has a rather different odour about it.
Bruce Hearn Mackinnon is a senior lecturer in human resource management at Deakin University.