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Qantas short-haul pilots have knocked back a proposed enterprise agreement.
Pilots from both the Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) and Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP) voted against the deal, which included a two-year wage freeze followed by annual increases of 3 per cent, as well as a $5,000 “Recovery Boost” payment.
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Qantas is currently dealing with industrial action by engineers at major airports seeking a higher pay rise to make up for wage freezes. The airline in August reached a deal with cabin crew to boost pay across both long-haul and short-haul services.
Captain Tony Lucas, president of AIPA, which represents 85 per cent of Qantas pilots and had negotiated the agreement with the airline, said the vote reflected “widespread frustration” with Qantas management and that he trusted the Flying Kangaroo would “engage constructively in negotiations to reach agreement with Qantas pilots”.
“AIPA will be consulting its membership to understand where the shortfalls lie within the proposed deal and we will seek a revised deal that recognises pilots’ concerns,” Lucas said.
“We sincerely hope that Qantas management understands the value of restoring the fractured relationship with its mainline short-haul pilots.
“If management shows a willingness to negotiate fairly, I am confident we can arrive at a deal that will satisfy both parties.”
The AFAP, which had not endorsed the agreement, went further, with executive director Simon Lutton saying Qantas’ “insistence on a two-year wage freeze despite being highly profitable while also seeking concessions on key conditions was viewed by pilots as unreasonable”.
“While the proposed agreement did include important improvements in conditions for pilots, ultimately these were not enough to overcome the wage freeze and other concessions in the package,” he said.
“The AFAP remains committed to a negotiated outcome and has already presented options and solutions to Qantas that would meet our members’ expectations. We are not that far apart and the AFAP is ready to get to work and resolve an agreement quickly.”
“If Qantas chooses to ignore the vote outcome and resort to its traditional hostile bargaining tactics this negotiation could escalate. This negotiation does not need to become a protracted dispute if Qantas is willing to work with the AFAP in good faith to address our concerns with the agreement.”
Qantas says the deal would have increased pilot pay by 23 to 30 per cent throughout the agreement, and included improvements like higher minimum guaranteed hours, increased standby pay, and guaranteed payments for flying hours lost due to unplanned disruptions or schedule changes during a rostered period.
“The agreement we put to vote included a number of structural improvements to pay and rostering conditions that our pilots had been seeking for many years,” a spokesperson said.
“Given the outcome, we will now take some time to consider next steps.”
