By Andrew Gibson
Qantas has reached an agreement with regards to the terms and conditions of 1,600 maintenance engineers. They have been in talks with the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association and have put together a proposal that they are in agreement with.
The workplace determination will get both parties to have Fair Work Australia to remain in force until December 31st 2014. The proposal has been submitted to Fair Work Australia in draft form for them to consider. The chief executive of Qantas, Alan Joyce has reported that the company is pleased that they have been able to reach an agreement which will enable the company to operate competitively.
He went on to explain that the campaign has been very damaging to the company and that the new proposal is a good deal for the company and should be able to help them and the engineers move forwards. The proposal includes a three percent pay increase each year as well as changes to working house and licensing arrangements. However, the baggage handlers and pilots are still in negotiations with the company and the chief executive had decided to ground the carrier earlier in the year to make sure that negotiations moved forward as quickly as possible. This decision is something that has not been done before and it seems to have worked, with negotiations taking place and this agreement being made. It is now hoped that agreements can be made with the pilots and baggage handlers so that full progress can be made and things can return to normal for the company.
