For mine the only real win out of this for management is the certainty to go ahead and implement whatever their plans are from this point forward in the knowledge that the LHPs can't engage in industrial action for at least the next two years.
The pay freeze is equivalent to about 6 months - the 4.5% being payable from Jan 2012. (EBA7v expired December 2010).
FWC has basically said to both parties - go away and talk again before December 2014 and try and get your s
t together.
They have avoided any real nasties as it seems unlikely they wanted to really touch FTLs etc. - perhaps because they were worried about imposing fatiguing requirements on pilots and any subsequent coronial inquest pointing the finger.
Therefore, the question that must be asked by shareholders (yoo hoo you lot - time to wake up), is whether this determination was worth its publically declared $200 million plus cost.
The following paragraph, although somewhat lengthy, sums up the conservative approach taken by FWC in their determination and provides context for their expectations of both parties as they approach negotiations in about 18 months.
Given the extensive range of matters at issue, their complexity and breadth and the context of a history of terms and conditions agreed between Qantas and AIPA, we have taken a cautious and measured approach to imposing changed terms and conditions within the workplace determination, particularly where changes proposed will not have an immediate effect or relevant circumstances might change in the immediate future. The nature of the matters at issue and the common challenges posed by the commercial environment in which Qantas and its pilots operate also commend themselves to negotiated agreement, consistent with the emphasis upon enterprise-level collective bargaining in the Act and the requirement, in s.275(h) of the Act, to take into account “incentives to continue collective bargaining at a later time” in making a workplace determination.