The AFAP is pleased to note that Qantas has finally commenced bargaining at Short Haul as signaled by the recent release of the Notice of Employee Representational Rights (“NERR”). The NERR is a requirement of the Fair Work Act which employers must issue to confirm that bargaining has formally commenced.
The AFAP is a bargaining representative under the Fair Work Act for the Qantas Short Haul negotiations. Any AFAP member employed within the Short Haul operation is automatically represented by the AFAP in bargaining. AFAP members do not need to take any further action in response to the NERR.
From our perspective bargaining at Short Haul should have commenced some time ago given the clear need for improvements to the agreement. Despite repeated discussions between the AFAP and Qantas IR representatives, the Company has left it until the nominal expiry of the current agreement before issuing the NERR.
As bargaining has now formally commenced, the AFAP have sought that a preliminary meeting be scheduled with the AFAP . Qantas must meet with the AFAP under the good faith bargaining requirements of the Fair Work Act.
AFAP Short Haul EA Survey
Following this initial meeting (which generally will cover housekeeping and administrative matters), the AFAP expects to be in a position to issue our log of claims. We will develop this set of claims based on feedback from our pilot representatives (see election details below) and direct member feedback through a comprehensive survey.
This survey will be released next week and ask that all Short Haul pilots take the time to complete this survey as we will use this information to develop our log of claims.
AFAP Elections – Qantas Pilot Council
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has confirmed nominations are open for the upcoming election for four (4) AFAP Qantas Council Committee positions. Nominations are now open and completed nominations forms must reach the Returning Officer by 1700 (AEDT) on 4 October.
All AFAP members employed by Qantas Airways (Long Haul or Short Haul) are eligible to stand for election. The
nomination form and
election notice provide further information on the election process. Pilots seeking further information on the nomination and election process can contact the AEC using the details in the notice.
If we receive more nominations than the four vacancies on our Qantas Pilot Council Committee then the AEC will conduct a ballot of AFAP members within Qantas (Long Haul and Short Haul) to elect the pilot representatives. The ballot, if required, will open on 25 October and close at 10:00am AEDT on 22 November.
Once a Qantas Pilot Council Committee is formerly elected, the representatives will have autonomy and decision making power within the AFAP on behalf of Qantas members including to appoint our negotiation teams. The pilot representatives will also form the office holders who sit on the AFAP Executive.
Network Aviation, Sunstate and Eastern Bargaining Update – AFAP Protected Industrial Action Ballot Lodged
The AFAP has lodged and received approval from the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to conduct protected action ballots at Network Aviation, Sunstate and Eastern. A protected action ballot is where AFAP members vote to approve each type of industrial action through a yes or no question. Only AFAP members can vote and a majority of AFAP members must approve each type of industrial action before we can lawfully take protected industrial action (“PIA”).
PIA is an option the AFAP will utilise when we have exhausted all other options for negotiating a new agreement that is satisfactory to our members. Unfortunately, when we cannot achieve a reasonable offer through bargaining, we need to use the tools available to us under the
Fair Work Act to improve the offer on the table.
While the process is underway our negotiation teams at each of these operations will continue to meet with management and look for ways to reach a negotiated agreement without the need to actually take PIA.
The AFAP has not had support from either AIPA (who are a bargaining representative at all these operators) or the TWU (a bargaining representative at Network) in the PIA process. In the end we believe this is largely immaterial as the AFAP represent more than 85% of pilots at each of these operations giving us the membership density to take effective PIA on our own if needed.
The ballots at each operation will close and results will be declared on 26 September. While individual identities are not known, the total number of AFAP members that are eligible to participate and the number that vote for each type of action is provided to the Employer and the AFAP. Membership density, participation and support for each type of action is therefore critical.
Once the results are declared this provides a lawful right to take Protected Industrial Action (PIA), by providing a minimum 3 days’ notice. PIA allows pilots to take the specified industrial action and not be subject to termination or civil penalties (i.e. they are protected).
Join the AFAP
To support the AFAP in bargaining at Short Haul you can join our growing Qantas membership. Further details of AFAP services and membership benefits are available
here.
Please contact Senior Industrial/Legal Officer Patrick Larkins at
patrick@afap.org.au, Senior Industrial Officer, Chris Aikens at
chris@afap.org.au or AFAP Executive Director, Simon Lutton at
simon@afap.org.au on or 03 9928 5737 should you have any questions.
If you need any help completing AFAP membership application form please contact the AFAP via
admin@afap.org.au or 03 9928 5737.
Yours sincerely,
Simon Lutton, Pat Larkins, Chris Aikens
AFAP Qantas Group Industrial/Legal Staff
Australian Federation of Air Pilots