QANTAS CEO unilaterally grounds fleet over industrial dispute

2011-10-29 02:40:01

#1

Spark: liquid fluoride thorium reactor; +874|6932|Canberra, AUS

W

T

F

is all I can say for this one. Had no idea this was coming at all. The twit just gave himself a $2m pay rise at the AGM a few days back too. Have no idea why this was necessary, QANTAS was winning the PR war with ease.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-29/q … ff/3608250

Qantas has grounded its entire fleet and is locking out its staff in response to unions' industrial action.

The airline is fighting with its pilots, ground staff and engineers over pay, conditions and the outsourcing of jobs overseas.

In a shock move, Qantas boss Alan Joyce announced today all domestic employees involved with the dispute will be locked out as of 8pm (AEDT) Monday, but the fleet would be grounded immediately.

Both the international and domestic fleet have been grounded indefinitely.

I mean, alright, some of the union demands were appallingly stupid, but... seriously?

PS. Out of interest, 17 world leaders are booked on QANTAS flights for the trip home from CHOGM which is currently going on at Perth.

Last edited by Spark (2011-10-29 02:41:44)

The paradox is only a conflict between reality and your feeling what reality ought to be.
^{~ Richard Feynman}

2011-10-29 04:14:33

#2

Dilbert_X: The X stands for; +1,815|6363|eXtreme to the maX

Not really followed this TBH, unions are asshats, the CEO is an asshat.

The outcome may well be that Qantas folds, derp.

Fuck Israel

2011-10-29 04:23:41

#3

Spark: liquid fluoride thorium reactor; +874|6932|Canberra, AUS

yeah no one comes out of this smelling like roses.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/abcnews24/ is available worldwide btw

The paradox is only a conflict between reality and your feeling what reality ought to be.
^{~ Richard Feynman}

2011-10-29 04:29:33

#4

Dilbert_X: The X stands for; +1,815|6363|eXtreme to the maX

Baggage handlers are asshats too.

"Lets put all the bags marked "Firearms", which must be signed for in triplicate, on the public carousel LOLOLOLOLOLOL"

Australian unions tire me, if you don't like your job feel free to go find another. In the meantime STFU.

Fuck Israel

2011-10-29 06:42:49

#5

AussieReaper: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°); +5,761|6410|what

Spark wrote:
The twit just gave himself a $2m pay rise at the AGM a few days back too. Have no idea why this was necessary, QANTAS was winning the PR war with ease.

Yeah I think that puts him on somehting like $5m per year now.

Even the pilots are taking industrial aciton, because ever since Quantas started hiring overseas maintanance crews, more faults and shoddy work has been found. The airline used to be rated as the worlds safest. Literally. Only a few years ago Quantas had a perfect track record. Now though, you'll hear of engine failures, mechanical faults, grounded aircraft. It's all because they decided to cut costs and use offshore maintanance.

2011-10-29 08:21:56

#6

nukchebi0: Пушкин, наше всё; +387|6581|New Haven, CT

Reading a couple aviation forums, it doesn't sound like Alan Joyce has ever been particularly well liked by Australians.

2011-10-29 09:17:08

#7

Cybargs: Moderated; +2,285|6973

these fuckers should stop striking before the 22nd, i will kill them all if i miss my flight /firstworldproblems

AR I wouldn't point to offshore maintenance as its root causes of failures, as qantas' largest hubs are HK and Singapore and both Cathay and Singapore Airlines have a really good track record with safety. Qantas will die if it doesn't cut costs though. Hopefully Fair Work Australia will settle the dispute quickly and yes WTF at the grounding of all flights =/

https://cache.www.gametracker.com/server_info/203.46.105.23:21300/b_350_20_692108_381007_FFFFFF_000000.png

2011-10-29 13:30:44

#8

Ty: Mass Media Casualty; +2,398|7032|Noizyland

Scumbag Alan Jones: Accepts massive pay rise on Friday despite objections from shareholders, cripples company on Sunday. Qantas managed that very poorly, you don't give your CEO a massive pay rise when there is industrial action going on and you're moving jobs overseas, that's just not smart.

To be fair though the TWU have not been helping themselves. From what I understand their pay negotiations haven't had much negotiating, the TWU knows what they want and haven't budged. That's not how this sort of thing works.

Also did anyone else notice the amount of technical issues and failures that have struck Qantas in the past year or so? Almost every week at one stage you'd get a news report about how a Qantas plane experienced an engineering failure mid-flight and had to make an emergency landing or return to its point of departure. Engineers think they deserve a pay rise after their shoddy work that threatens to destroy Qantas' flawless safety record?

Fucking unions. Just the other day the AEU refused an 11% pay rise offer in the ACT because "it still wouldn't put them exactly equal to what teachers in NSW get". Bitch the cost of living in the ACT isn't equal to what teachers in NSW deal with either but I note your not complaining about that. Unions have way too much power in Australia, that should be obvious when unions are able to politically assassinate a PM over a couple of pieces of legislation they don't like.

[Blinking eyes thing]
Steam: http://steamcommunity.com/id/tzyon

2011-10-29 14:12:26

#9

Little BaBy JESUS: m8; +394|6406|'straya

The unions are still trying to flex muscle, but with only 20% of Australian workers now in unions they are beginning to become more irrelevant.

Joyce is a dick, but the unions are being pretty ridiculous about this too. QANTAS could have won the PR battle if Joyce hadn't given himself a fucking payrise right before shutting the entire airline down.

2011-10-29 14:19:20

#10

Jay: Bork! Bork! Bork!; +2,006|5615|London, England

$2M isn't even a lot of money. Assuming there are 33,000 airline workers (google search), it's like $0.17 per day that the workers would've received if it had gone to them instead

"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat

2011-10-29 15:16:28

#11

Dilbert_X: The X stands for; +1,815|6363|eXtreme to the maX

Maybe, paying yourself a $2m bonus and shutting down the whole business because he's in a spat are the actions of a child, not a CEO.

Sod the unions too.

Fuck Israel

2011-10-29 19:06:51

#12

Spark: liquid fluoride thorium reactor; +874|6932|Canberra, AUS

Jay wrote:
$2M isn't even a lot of money. Assuming there are 33,000 airline workers (google search), it's like $0.17 per day that the workers would've received if it had gone to them instead

No, it isn't, but it looks pretty stupid.

The paradox is only a conflict between reality and your feeling what reality ought to be.
^{~ Richard Feynman}

2011-10-29 21:58:22

#13

Jaekus: I'm the matchstick that you'll never lose; +957|5436|Sydney

It's the principle of it. Saying no to a pay rise for your staff and then giving yourself one at the same time smacks of hubris. I seriously doubt Qantas will fully recover from this. Just glad this didn't happen last weekend or I'd be stuck in Sydney. But then again, I did hook up with a girl I met so maybe it wouldn't have been such a bad thing

2011-10-30 02:00:48

#14

AussieReaper: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°); +5,761|6410|what

If they wanted to cut costs, they could've saved $2 million if he didn't give himself a payrise.

2011-10-30 02:06:40

#15

Jaekus: I'm the matchstick that you'll never lose; +957|5436|Sydney

The best leaders lead by example. Joyce is clearly not leading by example. Waiting to see the outcome of this Fair Work Australia hearing.

2011-10-30 02:26:15

#16

Cybargs: Moderated; +2,285|6973

Fuck all this I just want my flight back.

2011-10-30 04:44:15

#17

Dilbert_X: The X stands for; +1,815|6363|eXtreme to the maX

What this really proves is the unions, CEO and board don't give a shit about customers or the reputation of the company.
You can't do that these days.

Fuck Israel

2011-10-30 05:03:25

#18

Jaekus: I'm the matchstick that you'll never lose; +957|5436|Sydney

It goes beyond company reputation and disrupted holidays and business trips:

"I was meant to see patients in Kalgoorlie tomorrow morning for scans to check on their cancer status but now I'm not able to. Qantas is the only carrier of urgent medical isotopes. Whilst I support moves to bring the dispute to a head I think the national rather than political interests should have taken precedence. I would like to know how Alan and the board feel about the impact and distress caused to patients right across the country? Perhaps we should debate the need to a nationalised segment of Australian aviation to ensure continuation of essential community services"

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-new … 1mq0o.html

If this is protracted to more than a couple days, would someone have legal grounds to sue if it is hindering their access to essential medical treatments?

2011-10-30 05:12:40

#19

Dilbert_X: The X stands for; +1,815|6363|eXtreme to the maX

I saw interviews with tourists who'd had expensive (the A$ is very high) holidays stuffed up, people who can't get to their first day at a new job and so on. Then of course the CHOGM meeting.
Joyce and the Unions don't apparently give a shit about these people.

Fuck Israel

2011-10-30 05:41:59

#20

Jaekus: I'm the matchstick that you'll never lose; +957|5436|Sydney

How are the Unions to blame for the fleet being grounded? It was Joyce's call. I don't think they saw this coming, no one did.

2011-10-30 05:47:13

#21

Cybargs: Moderated; +2,285|6973

Jaekus wrote:
How are the Unions to blame for the fleet being grounded? It was Joyce's call. I don't think they saw this coming, no one did.

Just sends a message to unions? you dont want to work? ok we wont give you any.

2011-10-30 05:50:58

#22

Jaekus: I'm the matchstick that you'll never lose; +957|5436|Sydney

I'm not saying the Unions aren't without responsibility or blame in this. But they didn't ask for the fleet to be grounded. Qantas could negotiate with the Unions, make the threat and then pull the trigger, kinda like "well, we warned you". Instead they fuck over 68,000 people directly and countless more indirectly, without warning. GG.

2011-10-30 06:47:57

#23

Cybargs: Moderated; +2,285|6973

Jaekus wrote:
I'm not saying the Unions aren't without responsibility or blame in this. But they didn't ask for the fleet to be grounded. Qantas could negotiate with the Unions, make the threat and then pull the trigger, kinda like "well, we warned you". Instead they fuck over 68,000 people directly and countless more indirectly, without warning. GG.

this shit is like the atomic bomb of anti-unionism lol

2011-10-30 07:21:24

#24

Jay: Bork! Bork! Bork!; +2,006|5615|London, England

Sounds like another instance of monopolies proving to be terrible.

"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat

2011-10-30 08:43:52

#25

Cybargs: Moderated; +2,285|6973

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15513219

Finally.

Jay, Qantas doesn't really have a monopoly in Australia's airline industry, although there are 2 other main domestic airlines (Jestar and Virgin), and the other is owned by Qantas lol. Huge share of the market yes, monopoly no.

BF2S Forums QANTAS CEO unilaterally grounds fleet over industrial dispute

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