I don't understand how some of us still behave like this has come as a shock. We should remind ourselves that when Qantas announced it was closing HM Tullamarine almost 18 months ago, Avalon would be next in a matter of time. What did we and our Association do during the period between then and now? Why didn't we get on the front foot and engage Forstaff and Qantas knowing full well that this was coming. 6 weeks of rhetoric with representatives of a company that is willing to ground it's whole fleet to prove a point is pointless.
The reality hurts but it is what it is. Qantas have no further use for us and we have served them longer than we all thought. Qantas under Dixon and now Joyce have always focused on cost cutting by off shoring. Bring Nazistein into the equation and he just simply pressed the fast forward button to achieve this outcome.
To genuinely believe that a proposal to allow us to take up to 5 months unpaid leave (depending on which version of the proposal is believable) would save us is incredibly naive. We don't earn the amounts of money that would sustain up to 5 months of unpaid leave and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know this. At the end of the day, our Association and those who represent us should have run this idea past us members first. To be absolutely blunt, don't they get paid by us and therefore work for us?
I applaud doing anything we can but there's got to be some logic applied and I think this was just a knee jerk proposal without a proper thought process being used.
Right now I think the focus and the best and possibly only thing left to do is pursue a better redundancy clause in our EBA negotiations which includes arrangements to assist us in finding other employment or training to move into other industries when we get our marching orders out of here.
I expect further criticism about my comments but speaking to those I work with, it's a common view we have and should prepare ourselves for.
Last edited by genxfrog; 1st Nov 2013 at 12:18.