Nervous unions seek Qantas assurances
A Report by Steve Creedy in the Australian says that Qantas is hoping a half-stake in Kuala Lumpur-based MAS Aerospace Engineering will give it a foothold in Asia’s burgeoning maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) market and produce a business with a turnover of $US15 billion ($17.5 billion) a year by 2016.
It has told unions the joint-venture will be used to consolidate overflow work currently sent to three overseas MROs and that it has no plans to take existing Australian work overseas.
But the unions are worried that the airline’s Avalon maintenance facility was set up with similar assurances — only to take over from Sydney as the airline’s major Boeing 747 maintenance base.
They also want assurances that work on new planes, such as the Boeing 787 and the Airbus A380, will not be channelled to Kuala Lumpur.
The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union said yesterday it was not told of the Qantas agreement until half an hour before it was announced. It would seek talks in the New Year about the airline’s plans.
AMWU assistant national secretary Glenn Thompson said the union expected the airline to stick by previous commitments to keep engineering work in Australia. It would “act accordingly” if this proved not to be the case.
Australian Workers Union assistant national secretary Paul Howes said it was pleasing that the airline had said the joint-venture would not have affect the existing 5000 jobs.
“But I think that at a time when the skills shortage is crippling most large companies in all industries, it’s sad that Qantas hasn’t thought to invest this kind of money in Australia’s maintenance facilities to train up a new generation of licensed aircraft maintenance engineers and aircraft maintenance engineers,” Mr Howes said.
“I’m confident, but I think it’s the role of the unions and the Government to ensure Qantas is kept to their previous commitments regarding keeping the vast majority of mainline maintenance in house and in Australia, as well as the next generation aircraft.”
The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association, which last night completed a ballot of members on whether its 1700 members should take industrial action that could ground Qantas planes, did not return phone calls.
The union has said it would not take action until after the Christmas break.
A Report by The Mole from The Australian
John Alwyn-Jones
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