On Friday 10th July 2020 your ASU reps and officials had our second meeting with Qantas airports management about the expression of interest process the company is proposing for ASU covered redundancies at Australian airports and lounges.
Qantas management has given us a lot of information to understand, absorb and question to ensure that our members can understand both the process and the outcomes that Qantas wants to achieve. We want to ensure everyone has all the materials and information available to be in a position to make their decision about what to do when the Expressions of interest are released. You need to understand the options and so what is being said needs to be clear and concise so as to make hard decisions as easy as possible in the circumstances.
Your reps have been through the Qantas materials and asked a lot of questions –we are still not happy with the Q & As that Qantas want to put out as they do not achieve what they say they do – we also believe there is a lack of clarity on the process after the EOIs are finalised. Also we know that a number of people will want to know if Jobkeeper is continuing post September 2020 and are waiting on announcements from the government which are expected on 23 July 2020. We did not want to close the EOIs before this information is known and in particular how the aviation industry will be affected.
Qantas is proposing options including Special Leave without Pay and changing from Full time to part time temporarily – we have been seeking more information on how this will work and so have had to schedule another meeting which will be on Thursday 17th July.
Disappointingly Qantas management are still refusing to pay staff the bonus that was earned in 2018 despite the unprecedented circumstances we find ourselves in. The company still wants us to have negotiated EBA12 before paying the bonus – an impossibility given the company themselves have not been in a position to negotiate the EBA since March 2020
What is next?
Our next meeting is on 17th July 2020 – we will then report back on what happens next.
We need job keeper to continue
It is absolutely imperative that Jobkeeper continues past September 2020. That is why we have been campaigning to put pressure on the federal government to come clean with what their plans are. The Government is only adding to the uncertainty by not extending this program.
Of course we want this scheme to continue for the aviation industry and that is why this week the ASU and TWU have placed full-page advertisements in The Australian and the Australian Financial Review calling on the government to announce a package for aviation that includes continuing JobKeeper. We have also written to Scott Morrison along with a number of other aviation unions and aviation companies asking for this support and we have launched a significant social media campaign.
For more information on our campaign – check out www.aviationkeeper.com -- sign our petition, ring or email your local member of parliament and share our recent opinion piece from the Daily Telegraph and the Courier-Mail. Aviation is important to Australia we deserve the government’s continued support.