Qantas Engineering redundances - Advice required!!!

[ALAEA Fed Sec]

ALAEA Representatives metwith Qantas managers yesterday and we were advised that Compulsory Redundanciesfor LAMEs in Line Maintenance Sydney related to the announcement from Novemberlast year will not occur as planned by the company. Instead the company willimplement a forced leave program designed to deliver the company the manpowerthey consider necessary to acquit future work. Although leave programs havepreviously been used by Qantas in Flight Ops, this is a first for Engineering.We welcomed the decision; particularly considering the complexities aroundlicence coverage that this program will create.

As news spread we were contacted by many members whoexpressed relief that their jobs were secure for now. Others contacting ussought more detail about the leave program and how it would work with somemembers initially concerned that some of their leave would have to be used in away they had not planned. The reality of what we have collectively faced sinceNovember is that Qantas want to run their business with 450 less Engineers. Aleave program in Heavy Maintenance is not beneficial because all of theemployees from a closing hangar would have to take all their leave until itruns out and then be made redundant as there is no work to return to. In LineMaintenance this is different as work is ongoing. The forced leave option meansthat about fifty LAMEs who would have otherwise had no job will be able to feedtheir families for some time longer. AMEs have also been offered thisjob-saving mechanism but it is currently being blocked by the other unions.

Qantas will provide full details on the leave option nextweek. The key aspects are –

• VR in Sydney will remain open for several more weeks and then close. It is possible that it may be several years before this opportunity is open in Sydney again.
• Transfers to other ports will also be available for several more weeks and then close.
• When all VR’s and transfers are known, a final calculation will be made by the airline to determine how overstaffed they consider the airline to be in Sydney.
• We estimate the final number will be around 50 LAME positions which could be covered by remaining staff taking about 4 weeks additional leave each year.
• In May this year several weeks will be set aside for all Sydney LAMEs to apply for all their leave for the next 12 months.
• In early June LAMEs will be advised if their leave has been accepted, preference will go to those who have applied for longer continuous periods of leave.
• The required shortfall will be allocated by Qantas as per operational requirements. LAMEs will have the choice of taking Long Service Leave or Annual leave.
• The process will repeat the following year however Qantas have reserved their right to withdraw from the program at any time. The ALAEA reserves our right to legally challenge any improper withdrawal.

Although this option savesjobs today, the future is as uncertain as it ever has been. Qantas havecontinually advised us that this may just delay redundancies for 12 months.With current average leave balances well over 6 months per employee it is hardto see how this leave could be exhausted in one year. We do however see this asan opportunity for the ALAEA to work with the airline to identify and bring inadditional work to secure long term employment for members. Some of the knownpossibilities include Atlas and Qantas freighters, A330 reconfigurations,A330’s returning from Jetstar, 787 arrivals and Emirates overflow A380 work.
We understand that some discussion around the workplace hasled to the perception that forced leave may eat into the potential payouts ofLAMEs should a day come when they are made redundant. Some members feel thatthis leave is like a savings fund or additional buffer. Such thoughts may cometo mind, particularly when dealing with uncertainty, however a simpleexplanation can demonstrate that this is not the case.

Any LAME at Qantas today who has 4 weeks leave that theyare forced to take in order to postpone a redundancy by 12 months will gain anadditional 1 year of service. Should they be made redundant at that point theadditional year of service adds 4 weeks to the base redundancy payment. If the4 weeks leave is paid on retirement as annual leave, shift penalties would beadded but the payment is taxed at the marginal rate. The 4 weeks baseredundancy pay that you would otherwise receive is paid at a greatly reducedredundancy tax rate. The net result of the forced leave program on yourultimate payout is about the same in dollar terms compared to those who wish tostore leave. The forced leave path will add the benefit of actually taking theleave whilst saving the jobs of others.

When this idea was first raised by the ALAEA committee itwas met with stiff resistance from Qantas. Management stated that “this isabout getting rid of heads from the business”. We appreciate the acceptance bymanagement of a concept that fell outside their initial brief and hope itsignals the commencement of a new period of co-operation between the parties.

More importantly has been the overwhelming support frommembers. We understand that some of you doubt a path that we may take at times.Some choose to do the opposite of what is required to achieve what we considerto be a fair outcome. Others constantly question actions that need to be takenor talk about change as if it is a foregone conclusion. The continued unity ofa vast majority of members has saved the jobs of many. We thank you for thatsupport and trust that a happier Easter will be enjoyed by all.

STEVE PURVINAS Federal Secretary

PAUL COUSINS Federal President

WAYNE VASTA Assistant Federal Secretary