Qantas not unions' fault
I want to respond to Roger Wolfe blaming unions for the problems at Qantas ("Qantas needs to focus on fundamentals", AFR Letters, March 6).
I was until September 2013, the president of the Australian and International Pilots' Association, which represents 2500 Qantas and Jetstar pilots.
In a meeting in February 2011, I offered Alan Joyce a two-year pay freeze and a commitment to rewrite our certified agreement.
This was rejected out of hand. It is an ideological war and Mr Joyce needed the pilots to be able to lock the staff out in 2011 at a cost of over $200 million. There is nothing wrong with industrial relations in Australia but there is a lot wrong with management.
..........................
Barry Jackson
Sydney, NSW
(my bold)
Australian Financial Review, page 35, Friday 7 March 2014
A stunning revelation, but why is it just coming out now?