The ASU Qantas EBA 10 National Negotiating Team (NNT) had our first negotiation meeting with Qantas management on 26th March in Sydney and we hit the ground running tabling 10 detailed claims and starting our discussions on our log of claims for ASU EBA 10.
We gave the company representatives the following detailed clauses for our claims:
Claim 3 – Continuation of letters dealing with the interpretation of EBA
Claim 5 – Improve redundancy notice period
Claim 6 – Ensure all vacant full time roles/ lines are filled
Claim 9 - Improve access to long service leave entitlements
Claim 10 – Improve access to annual leave
Claim 11 – Improve access to DILs and change payout provisions
Claim 13 – Include domestic violence leave and support services
Claim 14 – Increase bereavement leave entitlements
Claim 18 – Introduce transition to retirement
Claim 26 – Increase company superannuation contributions to 15%
ASU members can get copies of the detailed claims from your local ASU organiser or NNT members.
The ASU NNT has also requested information from Qantas which will help us bargain with the company. The information being requested is not information about particular employees it is general information about the company's operations that arise from our claims.
What did Qantas say in response?
As is usually the case at the early stages of negotiations, Qantas management did not respond to our claims, instead they have indicated that they want to come back to us once all our claims are provided and they have had time to assess them in detail. There was spirited questioning from management on Claim 6, your negotiators responded with many examples of how vacant positions had increased work intensity and pressure at work and why change is necessary.
Management has said they will tell us what the company's claims for this EBA are after all the ASU detailed claims are provided which we expect to be after our next meeting.
Qantas Domestic CEO Lyell Strambi gave the NNT a presentation about the company's progress which was very similar to the road shows that senior management have been rolling out to staff. Your NNT asked many questions about the Emirates partnership and how it will affect Australian based Qantas staff, we also focussed on the job security issues that have been raised by members in particular the use of QGS and other subsidiaries in ASU areas. We did not receive any specific commitments or assurances about our concerns.
What is next?
The next meeting is scheduled for the 10th April 2013, work is underway on the clauses for the rest of claims which we are aiming to provide to Qantas at that meeting.
Need more information
More information about the EBA negotiations is available from your local ASU organiser or members of the NNT [download the full bulletin for contact details].
Download the full Qantas EBA10 Bulletin #4 - 28 March 2013