I think there are many other examples of this, one that comes to mind is when Rio Tinto based itself in London and the foreign CEO at the time lost millions with dumb deals in Africa etc. We don't look after our own anymore. Rinehart urges Rio Tinto to move to Perth
Possibly off-topic, but on the subject of foreign ownership--Rio Tinto has always been London based, since they were incorporated in the late 1800's. Head office has always been in London--that said, there was a push to have them move headquarters to Perth, to more accurately reflect the where they actually make their profits. They are global, but currently, most of their global profits come from RTIO, in WA. Tom Albanese led them into a lot of debt with bad purchases, Sam Walsh, the aussie, former chief of RTIO, is now leading them out of it.
And this is where I get back strictly on-topic. This highly profitable business is , and has been since Sam Walsh took over, looking hard at costs and one of these costs is the people we employ. It started with a shock culling of senior Pilbara management,above mine operations, a whole layer removed. Then it started at site level. Mostly fly-in day, a call into the office, pre-prepared redundancy package presented, thank you for your service , back on a plane that afternoon.And the redundancies are quite generous, well over what is specified in our individual agreements. But none of this was on the shop floor level--all management , supervisory, and admin positions.
Which is doubtless where Qantas should REALLY be trying to improve the bottom line. I repeat, no-one who actually wields a tool or drives a machine has gone. And it has been purely on position, length of service or ability really counts for nought; it is just the position. None of this awful bloody trench warfare they have been inflicting on you, rumours, prolonged "negotiations", the death of a thousand cuts.
And now my department, on our site, is up next for review. The depth of the cuts has been quite staggering, managers are still leaving; mine is a statutory compliance position, required under two separate pieces of legislation, but I really get the feeling, that, sometime soon, I won't be getting on the F-truck to WAN anymore. So I feel I am facing redundacy too, but at least my skills are transferable, and I am of the the age where I could maybe sit back a bit, consider my future.
But there are doubtless many who have mortgages and growing children, who fear the future. You may have to look outside your industry--I was in an industry I loved for thirty years, couldn't conceive of doing anything else, and when the crunch came , it was dark times and dark thoughts all around. But I pushed into something else, struggled initially, got on my feet, and I'm still standing and prospering. If I do get the tap some time soon, it'll just be another door to open.
Your union, in the end, was unable to affect the outcome, but certainly not through lack of trying. If there was a union, unaffiliated to any political party, in the industry I am in , who conducted their affairs the way the ALAEA has worked for their members, I'd join it.
Good luck to all of you, and this isn't the end of the world. We can only hope that karma catches up with Joyce et al.