Emirates Airlines employees were all set to vote on the EBA with the ballot to begin on the 2 March 2013. Now Emirates management have requested another negotiating meeting. The ASU/ALAEA believe this could be beneficial as long as Emirates bargain in good faith by informing the ASU/ALAEA and employee bargaining representatives what the meeting will be about.
Where are negotiations at?
After the bargaining meeting in Sydney on the 14 and 15 January the ASU/ALAEA understood that the draft EBA was going to be vetted by Head Office in Dubai and then put out to employees for a vote.
Since then dates for voting have been announced, then subsequently re-scheduled, and now Emirates have requested a further bargaining meeting.
In this meeting Emirates must put a serious offer on the table if Emirates do not want to waste the time of bargaining representatives. The current offer includes:
- Wage increases of 2.75% in the first year, 2.75% in the second year, and 2.5% in the third year;
- Redundancy – 42 weeks up from 40 weeks, but still only around half the industry standard; and
- Double shifts (another name for split shifts) that could see employees sitting in their cars for hours between shifts because there is no time to return home and then get back to work.
The reality is that Emirates current proposed wage increases may turn out to be barely increases at all. The latest CPI figures show an annual rate of inflation of 2.7%. The Reserve Bank is forecasting that CPI will be 3.25% by June 2014, and that CPI outcomes in December 2014 and June 2015 will be in the range of 2.25 - 3.25%. On these government inflation projections the proposed EBA rate increase could well result in a cut to real wages for Emirates employees.
What's next?
Emirates will need to substantially improve the offer at the next bargaining meeting if Emirates does not want the ASU/ALAEA to have to advise members to vote NO.
Need further information?
For more information, please get in touch with your local contact (download the full bulletin below for details).
Emirates Bulletin - 24 February 2014