Union grab for 'no' vote at Qantas
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Union grab for 'no' vote at Qantas
Sat "Weekend Australian"
Union grab for 'no' vote at Qantas
By Richard Gluyas
October 16, 2004
QANTAS has been caught in the widening net of shareholder activism by trade unions after the Australian Services Union wrote to some of the airline's shareholders seeking support for a vote against three resolutions at Thursday's annual general meeting.
The resolutions cover the re-election of chairman Margaret Jackson, a 66 per cent increase in the pool of directors' fees and a deferred share plan for chief executive officer Geoff Dixon and chief financial officer Peter Gregg.
BlueScope Steel, Boral and Commonwealth Bank of Australia have also been caught up in the activist net, facing votes at their AGMs or conceding changes after discussions with shareholders.
Ms Jackson condemned the letter from ASU assistant national secretary Linda White as "a very dark day in industrial relations" for linking the current round of enterprise bargaining negotiations with the proposed rise in directors' fees.
"One thing I don't appreciate is the threat to shareholders and the mischievous way the resolution has been presented," she told The Weekend Australian.
Qantas has offered workers a 3 per cent pay rise for two years in response to a claim of 6 per cent a year.
Ms White's letter, a copy of which has been obtained by The Weekend Australian, says Qantas staff morale is low and frustration levels high as workers compare the airline's pay offer to the proposed hike in the cap on directors' fees.
Predictions by management of "doom and disaster", it says, are not credible in the light of record profits and higher fees for board members. "This staff situation presents a significant risk to shareholder returns, as well as potential brand damage, if staff are forced to take industrial action in current enterprise bargaining rounds," the letter says.
As battle lines are drawn at Qantas, Boral said yesterday it had agreed to changes in CEO Rod Pearse's new contract "following discussions with shareholders". They relate to termination arrangements and performance hurdles for Mr Pearse's options.
In line with the trend towards increased union activism, shareholders in BlueScope will consider on Tuesday special resolutions crafted by the Australian Workers Union.
They include changes to the BlueScope constitution to ensure, among other things, no executive is paid more than 20 times the company's average worker, as well as limit the term of non-executive directors.
BlueScope's chairman would also be prevented from chairing another public company, while non-executive directors would be limited to three board positions.
CBA shareholders will vote on November5 on a motion put by the Finance Sector Union for a review to be conducted of each major change program undertaken by the bank.
Ms Jackson, a member of the chairman's taskforce of the Business Council of Australia, echoed the BCA's concern that annual meetings were in danger of becoming "theatre", jeopardising the right of shareholders to be heard.
She said she was proud Qantas had helped many staff become shareholders, with an average grant of 2000 shares worth $6500 to workers who had been with the airline since the program began eight years ago.
On the prospect of higher directors' fees, she said Qantas had doubled its capital expenditure to $2 billion a year in five years.
Passenger numbers had increased 56 per cent, staff levels had risen 22 per cent to 37,000, and the security environment had changed significantly. "The job is now larger and more complex," she said.
The Australian
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Union grab for 'no' vote at Qantas
By Richard Gluyas
October 16, 2004
QANTAS has been caught in the widening net of shareholder activism by trade unions after the Australian Services Union wrote to some of the airline's shareholders seeking support for a vote against three resolutions at Thursday's annual general meeting.
The resolutions cover the re-election of chairman Margaret Jackson, a 66 per cent increase in the pool of directors' fees and a deferred share plan for chief executive officer Geoff Dixon and chief financial officer Peter Gregg.
BlueScope Steel, Boral and Commonwealth Bank of Australia have also been caught up in the activist net, facing votes at their AGMs or conceding changes after discussions with shareholders.
Ms Jackson condemned the letter from ASU assistant national secretary Linda White as "a very dark day in industrial relations" for linking the current round of enterprise bargaining negotiations with the proposed rise in directors' fees.
"One thing I don't appreciate is the threat to shareholders and the mischievous way the resolution has been presented," she told The Weekend Australian.
Qantas has offered workers a 3 per cent pay rise for two years in response to a claim of 6 per cent a year.
Ms White's letter, a copy of which has been obtained by The Weekend Australian, says Qantas staff morale is low and frustration levels high as workers compare the airline's pay offer to the proposed hike in the cap on directors' fees.
Predictions by management of "doom and disaster", it says, are not credible in the light of record profits and higher fees for board members. "This staff situation presents a significant risk to shareholder returns, as well as potential brand damage, if staff are forced to take industrial action in current enterprise bargaining rounds," the letter says.
As battle lines are drawn at Qantas, Boral said yesterday it had agreed to changes in CEO Rod Pearse's new contract "following discussions with shareholders". They relate to termination arrangements and performance hurdles for Mr Pearse's options.
In line with the trend towards increased union activism, shareholders in BlueScope will consider on Tuesday special resolutions crafted by the Australian Workers Union.
They include changes to the BlueScope constitution to ensure, among other things, no executive is paid more than 20 times the company's average worker, as well as limit the term of non-executive directors.
BlueScope's chairman would also be prevented from chairing another public company, while non-executive directors would be limited to three board positions.
CBA shareholders will vote on November5 on a motion put by the Finance Sector Union for a review to be conducted of each major change program undertaken by the bank.
Ms Jackson, a member of the chairman's taskforce of the Business Council of Australia, echoed the BCA's concern that annual meetings were in danger of becoming "theatre", jeopardising the right of shareholders to be heard.
She said she was proud Qantas had helped many staff become shareholders, with an average grant of 2000 shares worth $6500 to workers who had been with the airline since the program began eight years ago.
On the prospect of higher directors' fees, she said Qantas had doubled its capital expenditure to $2 billion a year in five years.
Passenger numbers had increased 56 per cent, staff levels had risen 22 per cent to 37,000, and the security environment had changed significantly. "The job is now larger and more complex," she said.
The Australian
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Just Binos
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No, it won't. Not until the gutless institutions who hold the voting power stop rolling over to have their tummies scratched whenever directors vote themselves huge rises.
But it's a start, and for all those who still rail about the power of the unions despite their reduced influence, this is a good example of why we must not ever let them be destroyed.
It's always amusing to listen to company directors, pollies and the other lucky members of society who get to vote on their own salaries justifying their increases. Doubled capital expenditure in five years indeed! So
ing what, Margaret?
But it's a start, and for all those who still rail about the power of the unions despite their reduced influence, this is a good example of why we must not ever let them be destroyed.
It's always amusing to listen to company directors, pollies and the other lucky members of society who get to vote on their own salaries justifying their increases. Doubled capital expenditure in five years indeed! So
ing what, Margaret?
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just curious, i do remember some time ago, a union in another industry were putting there super into funds that were directly related to there job, hence they become the major shareholders and the board and ceo answered indirectly to them, i am sure with 37000 employers and the large pool of super that was available this could work at qantas, any thoughts?
