More from Texas Tony...
I know this week has been a difficult one for all of you. Since Tuesday we have been meeting one on one with LAMEs who are potentially redundant as a result of the overcapacity we have in the business. A number have already started career transition services and are considering their options, including relocation to Perth or Brisbane. Everyone we have made contact with has demonstrated absolute professionalism and integrity throughout this difficult process, and I would like to acknowledge them for their fortitude.
As we are providing employees with this difficult news, I have received feedback from a number of people that those unaffected feel the selection criteria has targeted the ‘wrong people’ and that we are letting go of some of our best Engineers. I wanted to say a few words about this feedback.
Firstly, it is important to bear in mind that in a redundancy situation, people are losing their jobs through no fault of their own. The changes were driven by things such as fleet changes and system of maintenance changes which have reduced demand across the line ports. Unfortunately, this means that we will indeed lose people that would, but for the reduction in demand, be an asset to the company.
As to the selection criteria itself, it is fair to say that no selection criteria or process will deliver an outcome that everyone thinks is 100 percent right. What we have worked hard to do is to develop criteria that are objective, transparent and adapted to meet the specific needs of each port, as well as being in accordance with the requirements that are set out in our industrial instruments. We consulted extensively on the LAME selection criteria and received substantial feedback both directly from employees and from the union. Much of that feedback was incorporated into revisions of the criteria.
I have received some feedback that a measure of performance should have been included in the selection criteria. We have carefully considered this as I am passionate about developing a high performance culture within Maintenance Operations. On balance, we decided that on this occasion that it was not appropriate to include a performance assessment, but rather to focus on the licences and skills required in the business going forward, together with length of service as required in our industrial instruments. However, as we continue to work together within maintenance operations I will continue to look for ways of recognising, rewarding and taking account of performance in everything we do.
As an update for the AMEs, we met with the Alliance unions on Wednesday to continue our consultation. We covered the latest update on the EOI and mitigation opportunities. As I mentioned in my last update the details of the roles in Brisbane Line are available on the notice boards in each base, and there are still a number of roles available in both Perth and Brisbane Base Maintenance. In fact, if all of the opportunities were taken up, we would be left with only two positions remaining overcapacity. We are in the process of setting up our next meeting.
I also wanted to make brief mention of the CASA audit, which this week focused on Sydney. Today is the final day of the Part 145 compliance audit which has covered Melbourne, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin and Canberra. All that remains is an ad-hoc audit of Adelaide which will take place next week. The support provided to both the audit and auditors has been excellent. The auditors have been dealt with respectfully by all involved and I can safely say we have done all possible to make it a success. We now await the outcome of the audit and any findings we need to respond to.
Please continue to support each other through this difficult time, and let your manager know if you have any questions or need any assistance.
Thanks for all you do.
Be safe
Tony
And the colossal
Pr&%k even tries to sound magnanimous about the whole thing..
What a monumental waste of people.