Airlines around the world have fallen on hard times in the last few years -- particularly in the wake of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington.

Workers in the airline industry have suffered during this downturn, making sacrifices to ensure that the companies continue to operate -- and to make profits.

A typical example would be those people working for Australia's national airline, Qantas, who agreed to a wage freeze in 2001. Now that Qantas has made record profits and improved productivity, you'd think the company would want to share some of the benefits with its workers. At yesterday's annual general meeting of the company shareholders, they voted to increase the money paid to corporate directors by a whopping 66%. Executive salaries have skyrocketed. But when the company sat down to talk to the union, all they could offer was a 3% wage boost.

It gets worse. Qantas has admitted to training strikebreakers in advance of possible industrial action by unions. And this dispute is taking place in the context of the re-election of anti-union Howard government, with its threats to "reform" industrial relations in Australia, aimed at reducing union power and curtailing the right to strike.

The Australian Services Union (ASU), which represents many Qantas workers, has asked us to send a loud and clear protest message to the company's CEO, Geoff Dixon. In doing so, we are sending a message to the entire airline industry, around the world. In hard times, companies expect workers to make sacrifices. When those companies return to profitability, workers deserve their fair share.

Please visit http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=37

Pass on this message to fellow trade unionists. Let's flood Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon's email inbox with thousands of messages from around the world. Spread the word!