The aircraft engineers’ union has made a last ditch effort to get Qantas to keep open its heavy maintenance base at Avalon Airport near Geelong, including an offer for workers to take long periods of leave without pay.
The axe has been hovering over the aircraft maintenance base at Avalon since last year, when Qantas began to consolidate its engineering operations around the country.
Qantas says it faces up to 10 months over the next two years when it will not have any aircraft undergoing maintenance at Avalon due to it gradually retiring its fleet of Boeing 747-400 jumbos.
The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association made a confidential proposal to Qantas three weeks ago, which included an offer for workers to take three months’ leave without pay over the next two years.
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But the talks between the two broke down early today when Qantas proposed to involve other unions and inform the workforce at Avalon about the plans for staff to take unpaid leave.
ALAEA president Paul Cousins said the proposal would save Qantas up to $10 million, and allow the airline to keep the Avalon workshops open while it awaits for more aircraft engineering work.
‘‘At the moment the company has said they will have a review – but the code-word for ‘review’ is ‘shutdown’,’’ he said. ‘‘The goal [of Qantas] is to send all work overseas.’’