The Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) has called off plans for industrial action next week, in a move welcomed by Qantas after the cancellation of initial strikes by the union today (May 13).
“We are pleased that Qantas customers can now travel with confidence,” Qantas Group executive government and corporate affairs, Olivia Wirth said.
“These tactics from the union of threatening strike action and cancelling it at the last minute cause uncertainty for passengers, our staff and the airline.
“There is no basis to the union’s claims they are cancelling industrial action due to aircraft maintenance issues, this is just a tactic,” she said.
The ALAEA has confirmed that it will not take industrial action for at least the next four weeks, with Qantas saying it is keen to continue negotiations for a new enterprise bargaining agreement for its 1600 or so licensed engineers. In a letter sent to Qantas Industrial Relations manager Sue Bussell today, ALAEA federal secretary Stephen Purvinas said the union expected “to continue conciliation before Fair Work Australia in a meaningful fashion”.
“We do not expect Qantas to continue to say no to each one of our job security concerns; we want to work towards a mutually beneficial outcome that would secure the ability to carry out maintenance on Qantas current and future aircraft within Australian facilities where the quality of the final product is second to none,” Purvinas wrote.
Meanwhile, Wirth says Qantas has met with the ALAEA more than 20 times since September last year, and is “committed to finding common ground through negotiation.”
