PoppaJo
10th Mar 2023, 19:41
Todays Australian.
Those at Virgin, just remember, your leader is soon to bank a rumoured $30m payout once the joint hits the market. 500 bucks doesn’t cut it.
Qantas and Virgin workers worse off post-Covid despite big airline profits, say unions
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/qantas-and-virgin-workers-worse-off-postcovid-despite-big-airline-profits/news-story/4197ad4b9c299525e570ff6b64094f6b?amp&nk=b1b8ade833d1610875507ec06e03233e-1678479572
A resounding return to profit by Qantas and Virgin Australia in the last six months has left employees wondering when their own pay packets will recover from pandemic cuts. Qantas posted a record $1.43bn half year gain and Virgin Australia managed a $125m profit in the six months to December after years of heavy losses due to severe restrictions on travel.
In an effort to help keep their employers afloat, thousands of workers agreed to wage freezes and new enterprise agreements that now seem out of step with 2023 conditions.
Virgin Australia pilots saw their take home pay sink 15 per cent and Qantas pilots signed up to “inferior agreements” under the threat of having their jobs outsourced.
Now airlines were again making good money, the Australian Federation of Air Pilots said it was time for employers to reverse cuts or lose their pilots to overseas carriers.
AFAP chief executive Simon Lutton said already a significant number of pilots had been enticed to the US where airlines like Delta and American were offering 40 per cent pay increases over four years and hefty sign-on bonuses.
“Hopefully the necessity of improving pay and conditions for pilots will become obvious to all of the major airlines but at this stage they haven’t realised it yet,” Mr Lutton said.
“Right now we’re very conscious that the vast majority of Australian airline pilots are in a worse position in terms of salary and conditions than they were prior to pandemic, and what we’re seeing is a rapid return of flying and airline profitability so it needs to move pretty quickly.”
Australian and International Pilots Association president Tony Lucas shared Mr Lutton’s concerns that pilots were becoming “devalued” in Australia despite the difficult environment they operated in during the pandemic and as flights ramped up.
“We’re still seeing the after effects of Qantas’ decision to outsource ground-handling jobs, perhaps not quite as severe as last year but I still notice it in pushbacks where there’s a lot more trainee tug drivers,” Mr Lucas said.
“That means pushbacks take longer which is a cost to the business and for every minute longer a pushback takes that’s another 20kg of fuel which is not great for the environment or the bottom line.”
He said a two-year wage freeze imposed on all Qantas workers when they signed new enterprise agreements was particularly difficult to accept after the airline had posted its biggest half year profit ever.
“(Chairman) Richard Goyder last year talked about the importance of globally competitive wages to attract the best talent as far as airline executives were concerned, and the same logic must apply to pilots and we’re just not seeing that,” said Mr Lucas.
“That’s why National Jets, Network Aviation and Alliance are all struggling to attract and retain suitable pilots.”
Flight attendants and engineers union leaders were also concerned salaries had not kept pace with ballooning inflation, with employee bonuses by the major airlines doing little to soften the sting.
Virgin Australia provided $500 bonuses last year, and Qantas pledged to handover 1000 shares to every worker plus cash bonuses of $5000 providing the airline met its key goals for the year to June 2023.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said the average non-executive salary at the airline was over $100,000 and the annual pay rise was 3 per cent.
Flight Attendants Association of Australia national secretary Teri O’Toole said some of her members were on base salaries as low as $46,000, and conditions had only got tougher due to smaller post-Covid workforces.
“(Qantas) long-haul cabin crew are doing 30-extra hours a roster, they’ve really been slammed,” Ms O’Toole said.
“And our members at Virgin Australia bent over to give (Bain Capital) what they needed to get the company back on track, and now they’re exhausted. Those enterprise agreements need to be looked at.”
Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association federal secretary Steve Purvinas said they deliberately waited to negotiate a new agreement with Qantas which had paid off for workers.
But he said Virgin Australia engineers were very unhappy and would seek annual pay rises in line with CPI of around 7 per cent when negotiations began next month.
“The reason they’re seeking that is because they had two years of no increase during Covid and they need to recover that money,” said Mr Purvinas.
“Even at the rate that we’ve claimed they’re still falling behind.”
A Virgin Australia spokesman said new enterprise agreements were being negotiated with some work groups and discussions had been “collaborative and constructive”.
“We understand people are feeling cost of living pressures and we are working in good faith to address these challenges in current and future negotiations,” he said.
Those at Virgin, just remember, your leader is soon to bank a rumoured $30m payout once the joint hits the market. 500 bucks doesn’t cut it.
Qantas and Virgin workers worse off post-Covid despite big airline profits, say unions
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/qantas-and-virgin-workers-worse-off-postcovid-despite-big-airline-profits/news-story/4197ad4b9c299525e570ff6b64094f6b?amp&nk=b1b8ade833d1610875507ec06e03233e-1678479572
A resounding return to profit by Qantas and Virgin Australia in the last six months has left employees wondering when their own pay packets will recover from pandemic cuts. Qantas posted a record $1.43bn half year gain and Virgin Australia managed a $125m profit in the six months to December after years of heavy losses due to severe restrictions on travel.
In an effort to help keep their employers afloat, thousands of workers agreed to wage freezes and new enterprise agreements that now seem out of step with 2023 conditions.
Virgin Australia pilots saw their take home pay sink 15 per cent and Qantas pilots signed up to “inferior agreements” under the threat of having their jobs outsourced.
Now airlines were again making good money, the Australian Federation of Air Pilots said it was time for employers to reverse cuts or lose their pilots to overseas carriers.
AFAP chief executive Simon Lutton said already a significant number of pilots had been enticed to the US where airlines like Delta and American were offering 40 per cent pay increases over four years and hefty sign-on bonuses.
“Hopefully the necessity of improving pay and conditions for pilots will become obvious to all of the major airlines but at this stage they haven’t realised it yet,” Mr Lutton said.
“Right now we’re very conscious that the vast majority of Australian airline pilots are in a worse position in terms of salary and conditions than they were prior to pandemic, and what we’re seeing is a rapid return of flying and airline profitability so it needs to move pretty quickly.”
Australian and International Pilots Association president Tony Lucas shared Mr Lutton’s concerns that pilots were becoming “devalued” in Australia despite the difficult environment they operated in during the pandemic and as flights ramped up.
“We’re still seeing the after effects of Qantas’ decision to outsource ground-handling jobs, perhaps not quite as severe as last year but I still notice it in pushbacks where there’s a lot more trainee tug drivers,” Mr Lucas said.
“That means pushbacks take longer which is a cost to the business and for every minute longer a pushback takes that’s another 20kg of fuel which is not great for the environment or the bottom line.”
He said a two-year wage freeze imposed on all Qantas workers when they signed new enterprise agreements was particularly difficult to accept after the airline had posted its biggest half year profit ever.
“(Chairman) Richard Goyder last year talked about the importance of globally competitive wages to attract the best talent as far as airline executives were concerned, and the same logic must apply to pilots and we’re just not seeing that,” said Mr Lucas.
“That’s why National Jets, Network Aviation and Alliance are all struggling to attract and retain suitable pilots.”
Flight attendants and engineers union leaders were also concerned salaries had not kept pace with ballooning inflation, with employee bonuses by the major airlines doing little to soften the sting.
Virgin Australia provided $500 bonuses last year, and Qantas pledged to handover 1000 shares to every worker plus cash bonuses of $5000 providing the airline met its key goals for the year to June 2023.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said the average non-executive salary at the airline was over $100,000 and the annual pay rise was 3 per cent.
Flight Attendants Association of Australia national secretary Teri O’Toole said some of her members were on base salaries as low as $46,000, and conditions had only got tougher due to smaller post-Covid workforces.
“(Qantas) long-haul cabin crew are doing 30-extra hours a roster, they’ve really been slammed,” Ms O’Toole said.
“And our members at Virgin Australia bent over to give (Bain Capital) what they needed to get the company back on track, and now they’re exhausted. Those enterprise agreements need to be looked at.”
Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association federal secretary Steve Purvinas said they deliberately waited to negotiate a new agreement with Qantas which had paid off for workers.
But he said Virgin Australia engineers were very unhappy and would seek annual pay rises in line with CPI of around 7 per cent when negotiations began next month.
“The reason they’re seeking that is because they had two years of no increase during Covid and they need to recover that money,” said Mr Purvinas.
“Even at the rate that we’ve claimed they’re still falling behind.”
A Virgin Australia spokesman said new enterprise agreements were being negotiated with some work groups and discussions had been “collaborative and constructive”.
“We understand people are feeling cost of living pressures and we are working in good faith to address these challenges in current and future negotiations,” he said.