Western Australian miners and FIFO workers are set for further frustration after the Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP) has provided Qantas with notice of a further day of industrial action to be taken by its Network Aviation members on 22 February.
AFAP Senior Industrial Officer Chris Aikens says ongoing and rolling PIA will continue unless Western Australia Network Aviation and QantasLink pilots are no longer “treated as second-class citizens within the Qantas Group (ASX:QAN)”.
“These pilots are keen to meet the new QantasLink CEO to explain the depth of discontent widely felt amongst the pilot group. The members were agreed that, if the company was willing to come to the meeting with a potential resolution to the ongoing dispute, then serious consideration will be given to cancelling this, and any future, stop work action.
We sincerely hope that this meeting between the new QantasLink CEO and the pilots on Monday does go ahead. The pilots are keen to express their genuine frustration to her in person while she is in Perth and hope she can bring something new to the table that shows the value she places on these pilots.”
On 14 February 2024, the AFAP announced the first of 6 rolling 24-hour work stoppages after a further 3 days were added to ongoing PIA, as reported by Mining.com.au.
The additional 3 days were added after Qantas management walked away from negotiations and took previously agreed items off the bargaining table, according to Aikens.
The PIA, which began on 5 February, is being undertaken due to stalled wage negotiations as a result of the expiration of the Network Aviation Pilots Enterprise Agreement 2016 on 31 October 2020.
With 5,500 members, the AFAP is the largest professional association and industrial organisation for commercial pilots and Australia. The pilots fly jet aircraft for QantasLink (passenger transport) and Network Aviation (charter contracts), which are used to ferry FIFO workers to and from mines across the state.
Members of the AFAP make up 90% of the more than 250 pilots employed by Network Aviation and are eligible to take part in the lawful PIA approved by the Fair Work Commission last year.
Network Aviation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas which has offered air charter services since 1998.
Write to Adam Drought at Mining.com.au
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