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The damaging dispute between Qantas and three of its unions is likely to continue for months after talks collapsed yesterday hours ahead of a government imposed deadline.
The impasse means the parties will now head for binding arbitration before labour umpire Fair Work Australia, which imposed the deadline on talks when it ordered both sides to halt industrial action late last month. The arbitration process is expected to stretch well into next year as the umpire gathers evidence and hears from expert witnesses.
The increasingly bitter battle, which already saw Qantas briefly ground its entire fleet late last month, could still produce a new round of flight disruptions over the summer holidays. AIPA, the union representing long haul pilots, has gone to court seeking a stay on the ban on industrial action and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) is considering a similar move – though neither is considered likely to succeed. Workplace Relations Minister Chris Evans has warned that further industrial action by either side would be unlawful and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday called on the unions to let the labour umpire do its job.
Talks with the TWU, which represents baggage handlers and ground staff, bogged down over job security guarantees and the number of contractors Qantas wanted to use, while talks with pilots collapsed over the terms for efficiency gains of up to 20 per cent sought by the airline. But the dispute has also taken on a personal tone, with Albanese citing a lack of goodwill and mutual respect on both sides.
Both the TWU and AIPA yesterday accused Qantas of negotiating in bad faith and said the airline had preferred to let the disagreement go to arbitration all along.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce denied that charge but said the move to arbitration would allow passengers to “travel with confidence.”
The ALAEA engineers union, meanwhile, said it had made progress in its talks with the airline and welcomed arbitration as a way to sort out the remaining sticking points.
Peter
says:Alan Joyce, The entire Qantas Board and Management need to be replaced by a competent management, unfortunately the damn lot of them are driven by their own personal GREED and nothing else, I doubt very much if any of them truly have the company, Qantas, and its survival at heart, this raping and pillaging by Alan Joyce, his board and management has to be stopped and soon if this once great company is to survive, perhaps the best thing Alan Joyce could do is take a little time to read the self-help business advise of Richard Branson, the essence of Branson`s philosophy is to treat your staff as though they were your friends, if your staff know you care, it brings out the best in them, I rest my case.