QANTAS - WHERE TO NOW?
Folks, from a management perspective, this is about power!.
The Board and senior management cannot stand the current reality that a " little person" an engineer, can stop the company from flying an A380 by refusing to sign a fcuking piece of paper saying it is airworthy. I know you don't do that, but the mere possibility that the narcissistic management is not totally omnipotent in this regard makes them howl, froth at the mouth, roll on the ground and chew the carpet. I cannot overemphasize this.
The aircraft is towed into a hangar, the tyres are pumped up, the oil and filter is changed, and then the thing had better come out and fly. They don't give a fcuk if there are dead apprentices stuck in the retracted flaps, make that fcuking thing fly and be quick about it! You are regarded unfortunately as a necessary evil, to be ignored, starved and minimized, you are the boiler room stokers in the good ship Qantas, never to be seen or heard - the modern day black gang.
Your previous union management tried to hide this from you - the kept appealing to your " professionalism", as did the company. Now that thanks to SP you have grown some balls, you get to see the company in all it's nastiness. They wish to exterminate you, not because they don't need someone to change the oil, but because they cannot stand the thought that the little man in overalls has any power at all.
Management would do the same to pilots too, if they could, but the general public flies with them, sees them and demands that they be autonomous and professional. However the general public don't see the black gang, except for the bloke in overalls doing something incomprehensible under the aircraft. The only way that would ever change, in my fantasy, was if the passengers had to board an aircraft through a long plastic tube that snaked through an overhaul facility so that they could see exactly what was involved in making that aircraft clear for take off.
Approach your dealings from this perspective. Nothing you can do will mollify management, you could even work for free and it would make no difference. They want unchallenged power and will stop at nothing to get it. That is why they are destroying you as a profession.
The Board and senior management cannot stand the current reality that a " little person" an engineer, can stop the company from flying an A380 by refusing to sign a fcuking piece of paper saying it is airworthy. I know you don't do that, but the mere possibility that the narcissistic management is not totally omnipotent in this regard makes them howl, froth at the mouth, roll on the ground and chew the carpet. I cannot overemphasize this.
The aircraft is towed into a hangar, the tyres are pumped up, the oil and filter is changed, and then the thing had better come out and fly. They don't give a fcuk if there are dead apprentices stuck in the retracted flaps, make that fcuking thing fly and be quick about it! You are regarded unfortunately as a necessary evil, to be ignored, starved and minimized, you are the boiler room stokers in the good ship Qantas, never to be seen or heard - the modern day black gang.
Your previous union management tried to hide this from you - the kept appealing to your " professionalism", as did the company. Now that thanks to SP you have grown some balls, you get to see the company in all it's nastiness. They wish to exterminate you, not because they don't need someone to change the oil, but because they cannot stand the thought that the little man in overalls has any power at all.
Management would do the same to pilots too, if they could, but the general public flies with them, sees them and demands that they be autonomous and professional. However the general public don't see the black gang, except for the bloke in overalls doing something incomprehensible under the aircraft. The only way that would ever change, in my fantasy, was if the passengers had to board an aircraft through a long plastic tube that snaked through an overhaul facility so that they could see exactly what was involved in making that aircraft clear for take off.
Approach your dealings from this perspective. Nothing you can do will mollify management, you could even work for free and it would make no difference. They want unchallenged power and will stop at nothing to get it. That is why they are destroying you as a profession.
Last edited by Sunfish; 17th Nov 2012 at 17:47.
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I know I would be hanged for suggesting this, but don't you all in bexley think its time to offer Qantas a new EBA in line with industry standards in pay, super and entitlements?
I would love to be on the higher end of the LAME scale with bolt on payments but we are pricing Qantas LAMEs out of the business. This is my suggestion to improving cost savings for the airline and possibly saving the lives and jobs of hundreds.
I would love to be on the higher end of the LAME scale with bolt on payments but we are pricing Qantas LAMEs out of the business. This is my suggestion to improving cost savings for the airline and possibly saving the lives and jobs of hundreds.
Hey your suggestion is absolutely worth making here so I can explain this. I think Sunfish did in a very brief comment but I will talk about history a bit.
Nothing you can do will mollify management, you could even work for free and it would make no difference. They want unchallenged power and will stop at nothing to get it.
If you thought it was the overall price for HM I say no also. The 744 reconfig went out to tender. Haeko bid $195M, Avalon bid $200M. We were 2.5% dearer but by the time you fly the aircraft up there, guess what. Each year they kept setting Mel HM impossible performance targets so they could tell them they were too expensive. Each year the blokes met the targets. In the end they stopped setting targets because they just wanted to shut the place down for the reasons Sunfish describes.
If you think we as a union should try and work with the company I would suggest we don't. It has all been tried before. We had union leadership who were for many years a little more conservative (some will say a lot). During this period of co-operation Syd HM was closed.
Back to your original "take a hit now to save jobs" concept. Our friends across the big pond at American Airlines did this. They took a 30% wage cut not long ago. the company then deliberately declared chapter 11 (by ensuring they ordered and paid for far more aircraft than they need to make sure they lost money) and want further wage cuts. For management it is never enough.
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QF 94
Quote QF94
Whether you believe Im an old Jack or a current hypocrite is of no relevance
to me whatsoever and has no bearing on what I do or dont do. Just keep on babbling.
QF94 I dont babble, Ive only written 3 lines. Your the one that babbles, Ill leave that up to you, your doing a pretty good job at it. Do you do it on single rates.
It may not have any relevance to you, but it does to a lot of other people, hence the Jack terminology.
Quote... QF94... When the door hits us in the rear end.
Well it may be you first, perhaps the OT will keep you off the dole queue a little longer than most. What is going to happen is going to happen, there is a freight train heading engineerings way, we are stuck in a tunnel there is no escape, the only slim chance is to derail the train, how many more times have you got to be slapped in the face before we ALL say.. enough is enough...
94... Dont make this OT thing a slinging match, as Steve said, we are all in it together. Take a long hard think about 2008, what was the influencing factor regarding the outcome, we should be revisiting the past unofficially of course even FWA agreed. Thats one of the reasons they terminated the PIA this time.
Whether you believe Im an old Jack or a current hypocrite is of no relevance
to me whatsoever and has no bearing on what I do or dont do. Just keep on babbling.
QF94 I dont babble, Ive only written 3 lines. Your the one that babbles, Ill leave that up to you, your doing a pretty good job at it. Do you do it on single rates.
It may not have any relevance to you, but it does to a lot of other people, hence the Jack terminology.
Quote... QF94... When the door hits us in the rear end.
Well it may be you first, perhaps the OT will keep you off the dole queue a little longer than most. What is going to happen is going to happen, there is a freight train heading engineerings way, we are stuck in a tunnel there is no escape, the only slim chance is to derail the train, how many more times have you got to be slapped in the face before we ALL say.. enough is enough...
94... Dont make this OT thing a slinging match, as Steve said, we are all in it together. Take a long hard think about 2008, what was the influencing factor regarding the outcome, we should be revisiting the past unofficially of course even FWA agreed. Thats one of the reasons they terminated the PIA this time.
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I totally agree,management sets target to reduced employees not cost,Singapore becoming aviation hub,QF becoming redundancy hub
Upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all.
Upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all.
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What I would like to know is when are the long haul pilots to be made redundant?
With jumbos flying domestically with 3 captains, B747's and B767's literally flying out the door, and over 500 engineering staff leaving, are there now too many pilots manning too few aircraft?
I'm not trying to be rude, but with so many long haul aircraft leaving, there must now be a massive oversupply of crew. Or are you all being kept on for the return of the JQ A330's?
As we all know, if these aircraft can fix themselves, surely they can fly themselves as well.
With jumbos flying domestically with 3 captains, B747's and B767's literally flying out the door, and over 500 engineering staff leaving, are there now too many pilots manning too few aircraft?
I'm not trying to be rude, but with so many long haul aircraft leaving, there must now be a massive oversupply of crew. Or are you all being kept on for the return of the JQ A330's?
As we all know, if these aircraft can fix themselves, surely they can fly themselves as well.
Do you all eat your young?
