Qantas/Forstaff Avalon Announce Redundancies

[Apophis]

QANTAS / FORSTAFF AVALON GEELONG

Have announced to staff that there will be redundancies and loss of work hours and shift changes early next year due to a downturn in maintenance work on Qantas Aircraft.

[Lukeatme]

Apophis

What you say is right, how do people cope with a +20% loss of wages? (7 day shift gone) bills and other things still arrive as the life style created by the wage you earn (no matter your position you live to it) is suddenly GONE but some other poor souls will get even worse by being retrenched (that word gets me as I do not remember being TRENCHED) and it is a hard world out there now.

I know and realise a downturn in aviation but cannot help but see a young Forstaff that was a good performer in the early days with low overheads (make that a small group of office dwellers) and a crew whom made the company viable by turning work out ahead of time and finally got the overflow work from the big brothers up Sydney way.

Thanks to the early guy's at Forstaff you created their Company for them but let's hope it does not fold up and remain a memory like ASTA Services.

[Woomera]

Apophis, I have edited the title of this thread to add clarity.

Woomera (Eastern States)

[Sunfish]

Sad to hear it.

[Apophis]

Avalon job cuts loom

Friday, December 2
DANNY LANNEN

UP to 200 aircraft maintenance engineers at Avalon Airport are facing the axe.
Qantas and Forstaff Aviation officials have told workers and union representatives they need to cut costs and find more work to save an entire maintenance shift.
Engineers are already facing pay cuts as they switch to new rosters to reduce the expense of penalty loadings.
Qantas hopes to table findings from a review of its entire maintenance network early next year and industry leaders fear the airline will take all its work offshore.
Forstaff Aviation has 800 maintenance workers at Avalon contracted by Qantas. Many of the engineers live in Lara and district.
Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association federal secretary Tim Heywood said the situation facing Avalon staff was desperate.
``Only about a month ago we thought we were home and hosed then yesterday they started doing talks with staff down there and identified that come the end of May they won't have sufficient work for all three lines, they will only have sufficient work for two,'' Mr Heywood said.
``Obviously I've spoken to them about all this and they are currently out there looking for more work to fill that third line and keep it going.''
Qantas executive general manager of engineering and maintenance David Cox said yesterday the downgrading was not unexpected.
``Qantas always intended that its Avalon operations would provide additional engineering and maintenance capacity when it was needed,'' Mr Cox said.
``Work levels will fluctuate and this has always been understood by Forstaff Aviation.
``The completion of our refurbishment program for the Boeing 747-300 and the near completion of the skybed installation program means that work levels in the medium-term will not be as high at Avalon as they have been.''
Mr Heywood said Qantas and Forstaff Aviation leaders had been open during talks.
``The way they're talking at the moment they definitely have two lines to continue,'' Mr Heywood said.
``I can't see them being shut down. I don't even want to contemplate the whole joint shutting down.''
Qantas has heavy maintenance bases in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
One Avalon employee, who wished to remain anonymous, said yesterday he had worked at Avalon for almost seven years.
``There's always talk, you're never going to make 10 years,'' he said.
Forstaff Aviation leaders did not return Geelong Advertiser calls yesterday.

[sys 4]

sorry to hear the news,there is still work going over to Zurich and Singapore as we speak and this is the thanks that QANTAS hands Australian workers.THE SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA.

[Bumpfoh]

And on top of that news from Avalon the funds request to tool up Brisbane Heavy Maintenance for A330 work has apparently been rejected!

The wedge aint so thin anymore!

Bet the fortunate ones who have already been trained on the 330 in Heavy won't be complaining though with regular trips to Zurich. :hmm:

[fixa24]

thats a shame for the (mostly) descent guys down there... is the little italian still running the show?

[Apophis]

"is the little italian still running the show?"
which one ? con raf#$

[fixa24]

Thats the one.. was making a shambles of it when i was there..:hmm:

[Apophis]

yep thats him getting fatter and still making a bloody shambles of everything he touches how do the likes of him get a job beats the hell out of me everyone here will get screwed and he will come out clean .

[BHMvictim]

What about the 100+ redundancies in Heavy maintenance Sydney and the 30 redundancies at SIT? I hear there are redundancies in Melbourne too.

It's not a good thing that there will be forstaff redundancies in Avalon, but lets put this into perspective. Qantas core maintanance is slashing jobs, so why not the overflow facility too?

[Apophis]

let,s face it avalon has been quite at bit more than an overflow facility for quite sometime like it or not.

[BHMvictim]

True Acidopholis.......in reality, Avalon is more than an overflow facility, despite management refering to it as one.

I remember the day that management held a meeting to announce the Avalon facility. The promised that the facility would not take core work from Sydney Heavy.... a perfect example of the way these smug assh0les lie to the workers.

A sheetie got up in that meeting and basically yelled at the manager, telling him that it was all a lie and in 5 years, Avalon would be taking work from Sydney.

How right he was.

[Apophis]

where is the alaea they seem to have gone missing again.

[BHMvictim]

try a near by expensive restaurant.... with QF management.

[Apophis]

Ah yes what was i thinking they are there for a nice dinner and to collect there cash pay offs.