War on Qantas workers

by Peter Mac

Corporate greed knows no limits. In order to boost its profit level Qantas 
has effectively declared war on its workforce, despite creaming off a 
massive $343 million from operations last financial year.

Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon, announced the company's intentions with 
unabashed arrogance last week.

The company's aim is to convert up to a quarter of its workforce from 
permanent to casual, part-time or contract employment. Qantas management 
indicated that its target figure is 45 percent casual. It also intends to 
establish a cut-price airline to compete with Virgin Blue and, if this 
comes off, it is likely that most of the new company's employees will be 
casuals and, if possible, non-union.

On Tuesday of last week Qantas made the first attempt to introduce workers 
provided by a labour hire company. It was met by immediate strike action 
which forced Qantas to withdraw the labour hire workers. Round one to 
unions! But Qantas management will not give up its anti-worker and anti-
union plans.

If realised, the plan would affect between 8000 and 15,000 existing jobs.

Echoing the plans of Patrick on the waterfront in 1998, Geoff Dixon made it 
clear that the company intends to break the unions.

"We reserve the right to ensure that our customers are not disrupted by 
industrial action we have contingencies to maintain our operations, 
including the training of some Qantas staff in Los Angeles", he said. The 
waterfront strike breakers were trained in Dubai!

A statement authorised by the ACTU and a number of other unions reported 
that a meeting of Qantas delegates resolved to work together to support all 
Qantas workers in opposing the contacting out of Qantas jobs. It went on to 
say that "In the event that Qantas takes further provocative action against 
Qantas employees, all Qantas unions resolve to protect jobs and working 
conditions".

The statement said, "We have two options; we can buckle in the face of 
corporate thuggery or we can show Qantas we are determined to fight for our 
jobs, our families and our future.

"We must come together as a movement to support the Qantas workers. An 
attack on one is an attack on all", said the unions.

ACTU Secretary, Greg Combet said "Casualisation will inflict lower living 
standards on Qantas workers and leave them without entitlements such as 
holiday pay and sick leave."

However, in what can only be described as an extraordinary action, Qantas 
Chairperson Margaret Jackson was invited to address the delegates at the 
ACTU Congress at precisely the time Qantas attempted to introduce labour 
hire company workers and was declaring that it had already trained its team 
of strike breakers.

Margaret Jackson is said to be "one of Australia's foremost women in 
business". and is a director of ANZ Banking group. She was addressing the 
ACTU Congress in a "Future of Work" panel.

The anti-union actions of Qantas management must once again show that 
corporate managers owe their allegiance to their shareholders and to 
profits, not their workforce who work to produce those profits.

Qantas requires the casualisation of its workforce to fund its aggressive 
expansion plans and make even larger profits. These plans include gobbling 
up a large part of Air New Zealand, as well as establishing the cut price 
airline to compete with Virgin Blue — preferably to eliminate it 
altogether. It has already established the cut-price Australian Airlines, 
flying between Australia and Asia, and Jet Connect, which flies within New 
Zealand. It also has plans to move more of its jobs offshore.

Qantas has so far refused to negotiate with the unions on the employment 
issue. In response to an Industrial Relations Commission directive, Qantas 
baggage handlers last Thursday postponed industrial action over the 
introduction of labour-hire staff, pending a mass stop-work meeting. 
(Qantas had threatened to take legal action against its staff and to 
forcibly remove some of them from the airport).

The ACTU and other unions are now discussing a major industrial campaign 
intended to defeat the casualisation plan and retain permanent employment 
among the company's workforce.

The company's position is strikingly reminiscent of that taken by the 
stevedoring firm Patrick's prior to the major waterfront dispute of 1998. 
That dispute was also intended to break the unions involved, but it failed.

The flying kangaroo is no longer a symbol of Australia's achievements in 
building a national airline. It is just another greedy corporate employer 
determined to squeeze everything possible out of its workforce, to slash 
jobs and reduce working conditions to serve its shareholders.

It can be defeated as Patrick Stevedores was defeated by united trade union 
campaigning which includes winning the support of the travelling public.