30 May 2008
Qantas urged to ditch the tough talk and settle aircraft engineers dispute
The ACTU is urging Qantas management to return to the negotiating table to resolve the engineer’s dispute.
Following this morning’s four hour stop work meeting of ALAEA members at Melbourne airport, and
yesterday’s stoppage in Sydney, the ACTU will today write to Qantas urging the airline meet with unions as soon as possible.
ACTU President Sharan Burrow said:
“At this morning’s meeting there was deep concern at the apparent lack of respect Geoff Dixon has displayed towards the workforce. He said shareholders were more important than workers and this has angered engineers who work hard to maintain safety standards and levels of service.”
Qantas has this week cancelled a scheduled meeting. Unions want Qantas management to approach the situation with maturity and accept that the ALAEA’s claim is affordable, given that profits have grown at twice the rate of wages. The ACTU estimate’s the claim would cost an extra $2 million a year.
"This is a drop in the ocean when compared to the $1.5 billion profit the airline was expected to generate this year," she said.
The company is taking a tough line in pay negotiations using rising fuel prices as a reason to keep wages down.
“Everyone is facing the pressure of rising fuel prices. Unlike working Australians and their families, airlines can to a certain extent hedge their fuel pricing arrangements. Qantas management has reported to investors that they are successfully managing fuel costs. All airlines are facing higher fuel costs, but not all airlines are sacrificing their staffing and maintenance operations,” said Ms Burrow.
29 May 2008
Qantas cuts to jobs, services and staff wages are short-sighted say unions
The decision by Qantas management to cut airline services, slash jobs and reduce real wages for staff is short-sighted and will lead to lower standards and quality at the airline in the long term say unions.
Qantas aircraft engineers are today taking part in a four hour stop work meeting to discuss concerns over declining pay and service standards at the airline.
The engineers’ union (ALAEA) called the stop work following the cancellation by Qantas management of pay negotiations scheduled to take place this week and the airline management’s ongoing refusal to offer the workers a pay rise that is above inflation.
Unions believe it is unfair and contradictory for Qantas management to plan job cuts and to insist employees shoulder real pay cuts while the company is headed for another record profit — on Monday this week the company reiterated its forecast for a 40% increase in profit this year.
And despite rising fuel costs, independent financial analysts are predicting Qantas will enjoy strong revenue growth of around 7% a year for the next three years (see graph below).
ACTU President Ms Sharan Burrow said:
“It is very disappointing that Qantas has refused to meet with unions and cancelled the meeting set down for pay negotiations this week.
“There is a simple principle at stake here — the engineers and other staff that are essential to keeping planes in the air and providing a high quality service should not have to suffer a real wage cut while Qantas executives get big bonuses and the company is headed for a record profit.
“Qantas management also need to be reminded that cuts to services, jobs and wages will not attract more customers and will put at risk standards at the airline.”
Steve Purvinas, federal secretary of the aircraft engineers union (ALAEA) said:
“The last thing our members want to do is inconvenience the travelling public and we regret any such impact. But in the long-term the only way of maintaining services and standards within the airline is for members to stand up for their basic rights.
“The stoppage is the direct result of Qantas managers demanding their workforce accept a pay cut in real terms while executives take massive bonuses.
“Our (ALAEA) members offered to minimise the impact of this week’s action by putting in place skeleton crews, but Qantas managers ignored this offer.”
Qantas stop work meetings will take place between 8am – 12 noon on Thursday 29 May at the Sydney airport; 6pm – 10pm on Thursday at the Brisbane airport, and between 8am and 12 noon on Friday 30 May at the Melbourne Tullamarine airport.
Click here for Myths and Facts at Qantas fact sheet
27 May 2008
14 weeks for all women - ACTU paid maternity scheme affordable and good for families
All Australian women would benefit from a national paid maternity leave scheme which allows for a minimum of 14 weeks leave at full pay as proposed by the ACTU in its submission to the Productivity Commission inquiry into paid parental leave.
The fully costed model released today by ACTU President Sharan Burrow would benefit families and save businesses tens of thousands of dollars every year in staff replacement and re-training costs.
The majority of working mothers (51 per cent) earn an average of $29,187pa and would be approximately $563.40 per week better off under the ACTU’s model.
In total this scheme would cost the Australian government $518 million.
ACTU President Sharan Burrow said: “Two thirds of Australian women have no access to paid maternity leave and this is having serious repercussions.
“Many women drop out of the workforce altogether which holds back our economy with a loss of skills and personnel, while many other women are forced back to work too early because of financial pressures at home or fear of losing their job.
“Neither outcome is productive, healthy or acceptable in a modern, sophisticated country like Australia. The ACTU’s paid maternity leave scheme provides a realistic and immediately affordable solution for government and employers.
“We hope by this time next year Australia women and their babies will finally have the security they need to balance work and family life – it is long overdue”, said Ms Burrow.
The ACTU’s scheme would include:
· 14 weeks paid leave funded by the federal government at federal minimum wage levels plus 9 per cent superannuation
· A requirement by employers to top up the 14 weeks payment to the woman’s normal wage level
· 14 weeks to be added to any pre-existing paid maternity leave entitlement
· Available to all women, replaces the baby bonus
25 May 2008
Unions continue campaign for workers’ rights with new TV advertising campaign
The ACTU will continue its conversation with working Australians about their rights at work, through an advertising campaign launched today (Sunday 25 May).
The advertisement, to be launched today in Melbourne, features real workers talking about what rights they expect to see politicians from all parties support when the Rudd Labor Government changes the IR laws.
ACTU President Sharan Burrow said:
“This advertisement helps us continue the conversation we started with working Australians two years ago about their rights at work. We’re keeping faith with workers who voted out Howard’s WorkChoices IR laws.
“We are making sure their views continue to be heard, well after the electionby informing them of the progress of the laws and telling them how they can still have their say.
“Just because the Liberal Party was defeated at the last election doesn’t mean WorkChoices is dead. Until we see the final legislation we won’t know if the rights of working families will be protected, although we are confident the Prime Minister will keep his election promises.
“Until Work Choices is completely scrapped and a new fair and balanced industrial relations system introduced, the ACTU will continue our discussion with the Australian public.
“Labor’s new laws need to restore the rights that were stripped from working Australians under WorkChoices, from unfair dismissal to the rights of unions and collective bargaining,” Ms Burrow said.
Working Australians deserve industrial relations laws that give them:
- The right to bargain collectively
- Protection from unfair dismissal
- The right to be represented by a union
- Better pay and conditions
- The right to a say in their workplace.
“These ads put all politicians on notice – working Australians voted to get rid of John Howard’s unfair industrial relations laws and we expect the Rudd Government, the Opposition and all Senators to respect the will of the electorate,” Ms Burrow said.
Ad launch Q&A »
Time to deliver transcript »
Time to remember video (6.36Mb) »
Fact Sheet: Business push back »
13 May 2008
Budget is a good step towards undoing the damage of Work Choices
The 2008 Federal Budget is a good step towards undoing the damage of Work Choices and relieving the pressure on working Australians and their families.
ACTU President Sharan Burrow said:
“This Budget signals a clear break with the past and an end to the waste for the well-off and lazy neglect that marked the previous Liberal Government’s management of the Australian economy.
“It continues the task of getting rid of Work Choices with extra support for the independent umpire and for investigating cases of workers that were ripped off under the old IR laws. But unions would like the Rudd Government to go further and faster in some areas, particularly in restoring the rights of building workers.
“The tax cuts are well-targeted to people on low and middle incomes. Along with the Medicare surcharge exemptions, a rebate for education expenses and a big boost to childcare, they will provide significant financial relief for working Australians and their families.
“Average income earners will gain $20 a week while families with both parents working and two young children in care three days a week will gain around $60 a week.
“The extra support for public health, hospitals and preventative health are very welcome, helping restore access to quality health care that is affordable for all Australians and stemming the drift to private health insurance and higher medical costs for families.
“Apprenticeships, places at TAFE, trades training centres in schools, early childhood education as well as research fellowships and awards – all receive a long overdue boost. In many respects these education and training measures are the centrepiece of the Budget. They begin to fix the massive skills crisis that emerged under the former Liberal Government which stifled the economy and continues to harm working families by pushing up inflation and interest rates.
“Improved training and assistance for sole parents and unemployed people are welcome on both equity and economic grounds – encouraging greater workforce participation and reducing the labour shortage.
“While the prospect of ‘efficiency dividend’ cuts in the public service is of concern, it is heartening to see the Rudd Government delivering substantial new resources for dealing with climate change through support for clean coal and renewable energy, improving housing affordability and building homes for the homeless, providing aged care services, supporting parents of children with disabilities, boosting Indigenous education and health services, and for new jobs in regional and rural Australia.
“Unions are also pleased with the major additional support to Australian jobs, local industry and long term economic development with $40 billion to be invested via three new funds into infrastructure, education and health to strengthen the economy and deliver services beyond the mining boom.
“Over the next few years jobs and the economy are predicted to continue to grow strongly with wage rises remaining moderate and inflation coming down to 2.5% next year,” said Ms Burrow.
8 May 2008
Education and training targeted by ACTU as 2008 Federal Budget priority
ACTU President Sharan Burrow today will call for greater investment in vocational education and training, the restoration of workers’ rights lost under Work Choices and for the Federal Government to begin undoing the social and economic damage caused by the former Liberal Government in next week’s Budget.
Ms Burrow will release details of the unions’ priorities for the Federal Budget before she addresses a graduation ceremony of students at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.
Key ACTU priorities for the 2008 Federal Budget include:
- The replacement of Work Choices with fair and balanced new IR laws, including an education program to ensure employers and employees understand and are aware of their rights and obligations.
- Increased funding for the management, monitoring and policing of the 457 visa program to eliminate abuse by employers and ensure temporary migrant workers are not exploited.
- Measures to ease the financial pressure on working Australians and their families including support for the Labor Government’s election commitment to improve the affordability, accessibility and quality of childcare services.
- Action to begin addressing the legacy of under-investment in Australia’s social, economic and environmental infrastructure left by the former Howard Government — with a particular focus on vocational education and training.
For the ACTU 2008 Federal Budget Priorities click here »
7 May 2008
Treasury report confirms Howard Govt knew Work Choices cut workers’ pay & conditions
The release of a Treasury report to a newspaper today confirms the former Howard Government knew Work Choices was stripping Australian workers of their rights and conditions, the Australian Council of Trade Unions said today.
“This Treasury report confirms what the majority of Australians suspected well before last November’s election – that the Howard Government knew Work Choices was robbing working Australians of their rights but pressed on regardless,” ACTU President Sharan Burrow said today.
“Former Minister Joe Hockey recently revealed on ABC TV’s Four Corners program that the Howard Govt knew Australians were worse off under Work Choices, and this Treasury document is yet more proof.
“Figures released earlier this year by the new Rudd Labor Govt showed the true impact of Work Choices in cutting the pay and conditions of hundreds of thousands of working Australians.
A study of AWA individual contracts examined by the Workplace Authority in February 2008 found that:
• 70% of workers lost their shift work loading,
• 68% lost annual leave loading,
• 65% lost their penalty rates,
• Almost nine out of ten workers (89%) on a Work Choices AWA lost at least one protected award condition, and
• 56% lost six or more award conditions.
ACTU research also shows that the incomes of more than a million Australians dropped in real terms by up to $44 a week or more than $2,200 a year under Work Choices.
“This leaked Treasury report is another footnote on a dark period in Australian industrial relations history in which the Howard Government sought to deceive the Australian public over the true impact of its IR laws.
“It confirms that Australians were right to vote overwhelmingly at the election to reject AWAs and the Howard Government’s attack on workers’ rights and living standards,” said Ms Burrow. | 
