Qantas campaign begins
Tuesday June 03, 2008
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Qantas delegates
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Officials and delegates of the Union
met in Sydney on 29 May 2008 to consider Qantas’ proposal for a
new agreement.
In summary, the proposal provided
for:
- A comprehensive agreement (subject to the comments below)
- A period of operation of three years (i.e. 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2010)
- 3% increase in wages and allowances
- the ability for individual employees to “cash in” accrued RDO’s on an annual basis
- paid maternity leave of 12 weeks
- an additional 1% superannuation contribution for employees in accumulation funds
A draft of the proposal agreement
was provided at the meeting along with a critique of its contents. Leaving aside issues of a drafting and
technical nature, the National Office identified three substantive issues with
the draft which required resolution – namely, the company’s refusal to include
the following matters within the body of the agreement
- the additional superannuation contribution
- the entire amount of paid maternity leave (offering only to insert reference to ten of the twelve weeks)
- the production examiners allowance, which is
currently paid to forepersons and some senior storeworkers.
After discussion, the National
Office recommended that the proposed agreement be endorsed by the meeting and
circulated to members for their approval. This recommendation was unanimously rejected.
The meeting re-affirmed the
Unions original claims developed in 2007, namely
- a comprehensive agreement, subject to the Act
- 5% wage increase per annum
- appropriate commitments on job security
Officials and delegates from the
National Office and New South Wales Branch met with management on 30 May 2008 and informed them of the
above decision. Whilst the company appeared to be prepared to
reconsider its position on the inclusion of paid maternity leave within the
agreement, there was a refusal to negotiate on the union’s claims in respect of
wages and job security.
Accordingly, no further meetings
with the company have been scheduled or appear likely.
Branches of the Union
have been requested to convene membership meetings before 13 June 2008 to report on the above and seek
the views of members.
Given the similar position on the
company’s offer by the ALAEA and the recent involvement of the ACTU,
the National Office has advised both organizations of the Unions position and
requested a meeting of affiliates to discuss the status of the ongoing campaign.
For further information please
contact Senior Industrial Officer Paul Richardson (prichardson@nuw.org.au)
or your local organizer.
Last modified 2008-06-11 11:26 AM
