Qantas and engineers ‘hand in hand’, says union

THE union leader who warned Australians not to fly with Qantas changed his tune today after licensed engineers confirmed they had reached an agreement with the airline.

The Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association became the first of three warring Qantas unions to reach a settlement after the grounding of the airline led to compulsory arbitration by Fair Work Australia.

Union national secretary Steve Purvinas said the union and Qantas would go before Fair Work Australia “hand in hand” today, meaning there was no need for the tribunal to impose its own resolution.

Mr Purvinas insisted the agreement was “a Mexican standoff” that did not favour Qantas over the ALAEA.

During the dispute Mr Purvinas threatened to “bake them slowly” and warned passengers not to book Qantas as it might be unreliable.’

“I wouldn’t have any concerns taking Qantas myself, and I can say the public should choose the airline they want with confidence for their holidays,” he said today.

He admitted the union had to give up on its claim to gain an Airbus A380 maintenance hangar in Sydney.

Mr Purvinas insisted Qantas had not taken away any job responsibilities or roles of his members, which he said were guaranteed in the agreement.

This included keeping key tasks that Qantas chief Alan Joyce said must change if the airline was to cut costs to become internationally viable.

Mr Purvinas said this included:

* The right to have licensed engineers keep conducting a visual check of every aircraft before take-off.

* Engineers retaining the right to do all maintenance work, although he admitted Qantas may still try to bring in lesser qualified A Licence employees to do basic maintenance tasks.

He said the agreement, which also gave 3 per cent pay rises a year over three years, meant there could be further problems if Qantas tried to impose A Licence employees into maintenance tasks.

He said the agreement would not stop Qantas setting up a premium Asian carrier, with the airline still negotiating with Malaysia Airlines after plans for a base in Singapore look to have fallen through.

Qantas has said the deal with the engineers will be good for the airline.

A spokesman said it did not include any of the engineers’ claims that would have restricted the airline in making changes needed to be able to compete globally.

Mr Purvinas also said federal Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten had played an important part in encouraging the parties to broker a deal.

But Qantas is still in dispute with the transport workers’ union, representing ground handlers and with its international pilots.

Fair Work Australia is expected to hear those cases next year.
source:  http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/qantas-and-engineers-hand-in-hand-says-union/story-fn7j19iv-1226225652830

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