Paul Keating views on grounding
FORMER prime minister Paul Keating has attacked the Gillard government's handling of the Qantas dispute, saying it should have called Alan Joyce's bluff by refusing to intervene.
He said rather than refer the dispute to Fair Work Australia, he would have let Mr Joyce, Qantas's chief executive, sit there for a week or two.
“The chances are there would have been no more Alan Joyce - a very good chance,” Mr Keating told Sky News last night.
“Having taken his airline out, how was he going to get it back?
“I think the shareholders would have moved and then the board would have had to do something. The unions on the other hand would have had to do something and we would have had a bargained outcome.
“Instead of that we had the commonwealth deciding it, which saved Joyce and let the unions off the hook.”
This is an interesting view and perhaps reflects an opportunity lost.
Imagine a CEO sitting there trying to explain how much money he was losing on such a grand scale.