https://madaboutplanes.blogspot.com/2019/11/jetstars-pilots-to-strike-over-christmas.html
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| JETSTAR File Photo |
Budget airline Jetstar is facing delays and cancellations over the summer holidays due to industrial action, with pilots set to start strike action from next weekend. The Australian Federation of Air Pilots and the Transport Workers Union (AFAP) said on Friday that its pilot and ground crew members had voted in favour of taking protected industrial action, which could include work stoppages of up to 24 hours. The vote gives unions the option of taking action as they continue to negotiate with the airline over wages and conditions. The AFAP said it would start with a limited number of four-hour work stoppages next Saturday and Sunday (December 14 and 15). AFAP said no action would be taken from Christmas to the New Year, to avoid disrupting holiday plans during that peak period. Jetstar chief executive Gareth Evans said the airline would do everything it could to minimise disruptions and protect its customers' travel plans, but warned there may be delays and cancellations if its pilots decided to strike. "We’re doing everything we possibly can to mitigate those possibilities and make sure that customers can get away on time," Mr Evans said. “We call on the union to put a fair and reasonable agreement on the table that ensures the future of low fares for all Australians." Jetstar and the pilots' union are at loggerheads over pay, with the airline saying it has proposed a 3 per cent annual wage rise but that the union wants a deal that would increase "pilot costs" by 15 per cent. AFAP said the action would cover about 80 per cent of Jetstar's 800 or so flying pilots.
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| JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VQG (CN 2787) File Photo |
Union pilots who fly Jetstar's narrow-body aircraft, which are mostly used on domestic routes, will not work between 5am to 9am on Saturday December 14 and Sunday December 15. International pilots flying Jetstar's Boeing 787 Dreamliners will not work between 2.30pm to 6.30pm on Saturday or between 9.30am and 1.30pm on Sunday. AFAP executive director Simon Lutton said pilots had not taken the decision lightly. "We are hoping to resume discussions with the company to reach an agreement so that no further action needs to be taken after this period,” Mr Lutton said. The TWU said its action covered 250 workers in Sydney, Melbourne, Avalon, Brisbane, Cairns and Adelaide, and came amid a dispute with the airline over wages and minimum guaranteed hours of work. Jetstar said it has about 380 ground staff in total. "Jetstar workers took a pay freeze in recent years and they expected the company treat them fairly now they are earning bumper profits," TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said. Mr Evans said the airline was "surprised" by the TWU's move to vote on industrial action given it only provided a full list of claims two weeks before its application to Fair Work, and that the airline had offered a 3 per cent annual wage increase.
Full story sourced from here
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/jetstar-faces-ground-crew-and-pilots-strikes-over-summer-20191206-p53hhg.html
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