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CASA technical staff are to strike for half a day on Tuesday after three unions claimed safety is being compromised by employees working “excessive” hours.
The three organisations are currently negotiating a new deal over working terms, and the industrial action will involve safety regulators, flight training examiners, pilots and engineers.
CASA has been contacted for comment but previously insisted it has “sufficient qualified staff available” to ensure Australia’s skies remain safe.
The stoppages have been overseen by Professionals Australia (PA), the Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP) and the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA).
“Chronic understaffing has left CASA’s technical workforce overworked and under enormous pressure to cover a huge backlog of work that needs to be completed to keep Australia’s aviation industry safe,” said Professionals Australia chief executive officer Jill McCabe.
“Twenty-five per cent of our members reported working between 6 to 10 extra hours per fortnight, and a further 15 per cent are working more than ten additional hours each fortnight.
“In addition, 65 per cent of our members indicated that working extra hours impacted the quality of inspections, the effectiveness of safety regulations, the workplace culture and their health and safety.
“There is also a huge backlog of aviation safety regulatory tasks such as assessments of maintenance tasks, air operations tasks and new air operating certificates that need to be completed.
“In some cases, unless a job is urgent, waiting times for the completion of these important aviation safety jobs have blown out to six to twelve weeks, and unless CASA employs additional technical staff, there’s simply no end in sight.”
The AFAP’s executive director, Simon Lutton, said, “While a key objective of CASA is to ensure that proper fatigue management protocols are enforced within Australia’s aviation sector, CASA’s role in providing a work environment conducive to managing the fatigue of its own pilot employees is extremely poor.
“Our members are routinely working excessive overtime to keep up with demand, and as a result, the quality of their work, their health and safety and the safety of the travelling public is being put at risk.”
CASA previously said it was negotiating with the unions in “good faith” and was trying to reach an outcome that is “fair and equitable”.
“We have sufficient qualified staff available to continue to ensure the ongoing safety of aviation in Australia,” it said.
