Qantas’ West Australian pilots will strike for 24 hours this week as the airline makes a bid to use Labor’s new laws to trigger unilateral arbitration of its long-running pay dispute.
Network Aviation, a Qantas subsidiary whose 250 pilots service fly in, fly out workers at WA mines and fly passengers interstate, will apply to the Fair Work Commission on Monday for an “intractable bargaining” declaration after 18 months of failed negotiations and three deals voted down.
Qantas’ Network Aviation services 42 per cent of FIFO workers at major mines, the ACCC says. Trevor Collens
However, at the same time as it was advised of the application, the Australian Federation of Air Pilots notified a full-day strike on Thursday.
The last time WA pilots stopped work for 24 hours in October the airline was forced to cancel half its flights, with hundreds of QantasLink commuters left stranded and thousands facing disruption.
Qantas controls 42 per cent of the FIFO market in WA, according to estimates published by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
A Network aviation spokesman said: “It is disappointing that as we’ve advised the AFAP of our intention to apply for the FWC to assist with arbitration, the union has notified us it plans to take industrial action.
“We’re working on plans to minimise disruption to our customers if the union does go ahead with industrial action.”
The AFAP has argued Network pilots, whose last agreement expired in 2020 leaving some first officers below the award, are paid significantly lower than pilots at competitors.
“Network pilots’ pay and conditions are significantly inferior to that of other pilots at Qantas and comparable airlines,” said AFAP senior industrial officer Chris Aikens.
“The AFAP has been genuinely negotiating and trying to reach an agreement with Qantas management but the company remains unwilling to revisit its inflexible wages policy instituted under the former CEO.”
Mr Aikens said the union apologised for the disruption the strike would cause the public in WA as well as FIFO workers reliant on the flights.
Move to break ‘impasse’
Network Aviation chief operating officer Trevor Worgan said: “We’ve been working to reach a new agreement for over a year now, offering our pilots significant pay increases and other benefits.
“Given the impasse, we’ve been left with no other choice but to ask the Fair Work Commission to arbitrate.”
The airline’s move comes as the pilots voted down the two most recent proposed agreements despite in-principle backing from unions. About 57 per cent voted down the last agreement.
Last week, following the vote and three surveys of members, the AFAP made seven “enhanced” claims that the airline said would add “millions of dollars” in extra cost to the agreement.
The new claims included increasing days off per roster period from nine to ten - which the union says is the same as other Qantas subsidiaries and the rest of the industry - higher overtime pay, more roster protections and a 6am, rather than 4am, start time following a day off.
The airline responded by taking agreed terms off the bargaining table. including an on-duty allowance and salary improvements, and flagged it would seek arbitration. The union moved to strike in response.
The airline’s use of the intractable bargaining laws comes as the Albanese government is proposing to change the laws – which only came into effect in June – so that any arbitration outcome cannot change workers’ existing conditions in a way that would leave them worse off.
However, employers are furious about the proposed change, part of the Closing Loopholes Bill No. 2 set to be debated in parliament on Wednesday, and have argued it turns the law into an “entirely lopsided pro-union regime” and would discourage trade-offs and give unions an incentive to drag out disputes.
Key crossbench senator David Pocock identified the issue as a point of concern in a recent Senate report into the bill, and highlighted Labor Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas’ recommendation that the government change the amendment to a better off overall consideration.
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2024-02-05 05:20:00Z
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