Merged: Qantas Engineers Set to Strike
 

Monday, May 05, 2008


Qantas engineers are planning a series of 48-hour strikes in their campaign for better pay.
Despite fare increases and a record profit year predicted Qantas has refused to improve on a pay offer of 3percent.
The Australian Licensed Engineers Association has begun balloting members and industrial action will probably start in two weeks.
"Our members feel an offer of 3 per cent isn't good enough when inflation is running at 4.2 per cent," said association federal president Paul Cousins.
Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon said, "At a time of record and escalating fuel prices and major disruptions in the industry, Qantas will not move from its stated 3 per cent pay increase and 1 per cent super."
Qantas is expected to announce a record $1.5 billion profit in a couple of months, up 40 per cent on the previous year.
The airline has also increased international and domestic fares by 3 per cent and 3.5 percent respectively. Those rises mean a $100 increase on a return trip to London and $8 on a one-way fare to Melbourne.
Fuel costs are soaring but the airline has bought much of this year's fuel on favourable fixed contracts. It has said it will absorb the higher costs by cutting expenditure and putting a freeze on hiring.
Mr Cousins said if engineers voted in favour of industrial action it would begin almost as soon as the ballot closed on May 18 with a series of four-hour stoppages.
"We will try to keep disruption to a minimum but it will inevitably lead to delays because there is a shortage of engineers."
Mr Cousins claimed Qantas had contracted an employment agency to hire engineers on extremely favourable short-term contracts to break the strike.
Qantas passengers should be prepared from delays to their flights due to the strikes.

I understand that the vote results are now in - 81% in favour of industrial action. :D

Good luck to you guys, you deserve far more, am rooting for you all, well maybe not quite thinking about you at a personal time!:E

CW:ok:

Hang on......... are you male or female?

Lambs to the slaughter.

capt wally... have one for me (it's a dry patch)
go engineers, plenty of the cc support you even if it does stuff up some flying. geuss the schedulers for techies and cc will make lots of o/t

exactly what i was thinking, you will get nothing above 3.0 % and a lot of lost income from strike action.....

lets just bend over and accept a substandard offer then eh ? :ok:

Good for you Engineers, well done and go for it.

There is a huge global shortage of qualified engineers (as bad if not worse than that for pilots). QF have treated you appallingly for too long.

There are too many naysaying whimps around like seldomfixit and ultralights who no doubt whine like stuck pigs when they don't get their own way but don't do anything collectively to fix it. 'Lambs to the slaughter' my arse, what have you guys got to lose? Worse case scenario everybody gets sacked - then what? Somebody still has to maintain the aircraft.

There are too few engineers and many, many jobs. Basic supply and demand. You should thus be rewarded accordingly and it's about time you were (and stood up for yourselves).

Just look what the Victorian school teachers have achieved by being tough and united. Unlike us pilots who are the biggest bunch of self-serving whiners unable to work cohesively and collectively even at this historic time of flight-cancelling aircrew shortages.:rolleyes:

Good luck to you.

What was GD's pay rises over the last few years????
Can Geoff spell hypocrite?
If not, here you go geoff:
hyp·o·crite Audio Help /ˈhɪpəkrɪt/ Pronunciation Key -
–noun 1. a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.
2. a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, esp. one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements.

Well is about bloody time you guys stood up for yourselves! QF has tried to keep you down too long!
You should have walked out when you said you would earlier on in the year instead of waiting and hoping managers would give you what you want.
The lower amount you take the higher the bonus's are further up the chain.
If they are going to re hire the people they made redundant to come back and work for a VERY good rate wouldn't it be easier to just divy up that money to the engineers at work?
I hope you guys actualy stick this one out, we as engineers have been troden on enough its time to make a stand!!
Also where are they gonna find enough contractors to do the work its not like they grow on trees

United
 

Stay focused, stay determined and above all stay united. Don't let the b###ards drive a wedge into you. Look at what the teachers and cab drivers did in Victoria recently and you know you can succeed. Good luck to the lot of you - you deserve it.

Go for it Guys-

and I speak on behalf of PAF (pass a frozo) who is also behind you guys 100%

:E

I expect the baggage handlers will soon follow :8

Yes, shut down the whole :mad: lot and history, like 89; will repeat itself. Good luck.

I am not sure that 89 would actually be repeated, this time the CEO is not well regarded in many circles. No mate of the PMs, no mate of the public either.

There are also the ghosts of Allco - (a "sell/avoid" stock) - might be a bit harder to shake from the collective memory than expected.

Good luck Ginger Beers!

Good luck
 

Good luck with it, I wish you all well with your endeavour.

I hope as a group you see a lot more intelligence and forethought than we did at j* during the fiasco that was the EBA negotiation. Thankfully in your favour you don't have our negotiating "team".

We will all be watching and waiting :ok:

Go for it guys.

Expect some heavy pressure from a long planned and carefully orchestrated propaganda campaign, even in this forum.

Good luck, hang tough.

Obscene profits need to be shared with those who helped create them, not just the ivory tower trough-gobbling monkeys, (who wouldn't know work if it bit them on the :mad:.)

Al e Vator, I spent 11 yrs battling QF for better pay, all we ever got was 3%, i left in 2001, and all they have ever received since is 3%.. i left for much greener pastures, i am now earning $25K pa More than i did at QF, for doing exactly the same job. without shift work, and working 4 day weeks..

nothing has changed from 3 % and it never will. sadly i wish this wasn't the case...