Fair Work fails ASU airlines members

1 March 2010

In a disappointing decision for ASU Airlines members, Fair Work Australia (FWA) handed down a decision on 26 February refusing to make modifications to the Airline Operations Ground Staff Award 2010 (the modern Airlines Award).

The decision is in the face of a request by the Deputy Prime Minister to FWA to look at a structure in this Award that acknowledged the 3 levels of operation - regional, domestic and overseas carriers.

This decision is a slap in the face for ASU members in airlines and lowers the Award safety net to an unrecognisably low level, both on the wages side but also through the elimination of long held allowances that had been in our Awards.

How did this happen?

In June 2008 the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC), the predecessor to Fair Work Australia, was asked by the Federal Government to review and "modernise" all State and Federal Awards. This is known as the "Award modernisation" process.

Unions including the ASU worked closely together and put a joint submission in the airline industry in early 2009. We told the AIRC that the appropriate Award classifications were a combination of what already existed.

The employers, led by the Australian Industry Group (AIG) and Qantas, proposed drastic cuts to the Overseas Airlines and Domestic Airlines Award rates and the removal of our allowances.

The ASU opposed this vicious attack by the employers which they persisted with during two hearings about the modern Award in 2009.

The AIRC handed down a final decision about the modern Award in September 2009 which significantly cut rates and conditions. Rates of pay in the Overseas Airlines Award were cut by between $76.23 and $301.56 per week.

Transport Allowance, Social Disability Allowance and the Tropical Zone Allowance were also eliminated.

DPM intervenes

In response to this unacceptable modern Award, ASU members and delegates lobbied Federal Labor MPs and the Deputy Prime Minister asking the Deputy Prime Minister to intervene and vary her request to the AIRC to reverse the cuts to rates of pay and conditions in the modern Award.

Our lobbying was successful and on 12 November 2009 the Deputy Prime Minister amended her request and asked the AIRC to look at this again.

The ASU put further submissions to the AIRC and we appeared to support the submissions on 16 December 2009. The employers, led by Qantas and AIG, vigorously opposed our submissions again.

Again Fair Work Australia (FWA - the new name for the AIRC) has supported the employers.

Why?

The decision of FWA is not appealable despite errors in the decision. They say Qantas is Award free (wrong!) and that the allowances they took off us were not in our Awards (also wrong!).

This decision is a disgrace and there is no doubt people will be disadvantaged.

Our safety net has been lowered and it is because of the Government's Award modernisation process.

While the Government may not have wanted this to occur unfortunately their system has let this happen.

The ASU will fight to ensure our members are not disadvantaged because of this in bargaining and through take home pay orders for Award reliant members. We will not give in!