Qantas engineers to strike in January
A Report by Scott Rochfort in The Sydney Morning Herald says that New Year holiday plans of Qantas passengers could be in ruins after 1700 licensed maintenance engineers voted in favour of industrial action.
In what could be the biggest disruption to air travel in Australia since the pilots’ strike in 1989, the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association said yesterday that it had been given the go-ahead to take industrial action.
“We most certainly will be taking action from the 9th of January,” said the association’s federal secretary, Steve Purvinas, after 87 per cent of members voted for industrial action after talks on the enterprise-bargaining agreement broke down.
The vote will allow the union to call for four-hour stoppages, which Qantas has admitted could seriously affect its flights by late next month.
Striking by the engineers would make it impossible for Qantas to check its 213 aircraft for take-off without delays.
By law, only a licensed aircraft maintenance engineer can sign for a jet to re-enter service after a maintenance check or a landing.
Mr Purvinas said: “It will be difficult for them to find a replacement workforce in a short timeframe.”
Qantas’s industrial relations chief, Kevin Brown, said the airline was still open to “finding a solution to this”.
The airline declined to comment on speculation that it is already looking to reschedule flights and employ non-union relief workers. Mr Brown would only confirm that safety would not be affected.
“Qantas regards the threats of industrial action as unjustified and deliberately timed to coincide with school holidays, which will damage our customers,” he said.
The stoppages would also affect flights to Asia and Hawaii by Qantas’s low-cost offshoot, Jetstar, but not Jetstar’s domestic services, for which maintenance engineers are on separate agreements.
The union is seeking a 5 per cent annual pay rise and has rejected the 3 per cent proposed by Qantas. It also opposes the employment of less-qualified engineers on lower wages.
A Report by The Mole from The Sydney Morning Herald
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