Qantas Short Haul EA Update No. 6 - AFAP Response to In Principle Agreement
As most of you would be aware, AIPA’s SH EA negotiating team reached an in principle agreement with the Company this week. The QPC has been made aware of the various changes to this agreement as negotiations have progressed and updated our members accordingly. This in principle agreement is much the same as what was previously rejected by the AFAP SH negotiating team for falling well short of what the QPC believes is fair and reasonable.
The QPC believes this agreement will leave Short Haul pilots in a significantly worse position than they were pre-covid, and follows on from the concessions given in the Short Haul variation that saw no improvement for the pilots.
In short, it is the QPC’s position that SH pilots have given away much more than they have gained, and we believe, based on what our members have outlined in our surveys, this proposed agreement does not represent an adequate outcome. It is our belief that we should continue negotiations, where we believe we have been making good progress.
Below are some of the key items proposed in the agreement:
Wages
- Effectively a 5 year agreement, as it is 4 years from commencement and the agreement has been expired for almost 1 year (2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027)
- 0% (2023), 0% (2024), 3% (2025), 3% (2026), 3% (2027)
- MGH of 62
- Introduce a level 5 salary scale of + 2.5%:
- From commencement – transition to 1st or 2nd bid period;
- All pilots move up one yearly increment;
- Hourly rate increase in line with salary.
While an additional level 5 is an improvement, this falls well short of our members expectations. The reality is Qantas is enforcing its arbitrary wages policy in a high inflation period and at a time when the business is enjoying strong profits. We outline again below the context and effect of this high inflation on real wages.
Our view is that Qantas needs to significantly improve the headline wages outcome. We suggest as the next step that Qantas value the offsets made by Short Haul pilots during the Short Haul EA variation (which will continue as part of this EA) that can be used within the Qantas Wages Policy to contribute to higher hourly rate increases.
We are not opposed to achieving a higher base salary through a higher MGH (62 hours), divisor and additional salary levels. However, certain items such as super benefits remain largely outside the EA and will require external trustee approval for an increase in payments. Our view remains that increased salary levels should come with a revised structure that recognises years of service within Qantas mainline.
Reserve Pay
While on face value this could be seen as a win for the pilots and a concession for the Company, the fact remains that this actually assists the Company and should NOT be considered an offsetable item. Unpaid reserve has long been problematic as personal leave is historically elevated on reserve days and the flow-on effect is a tangible cost for the business. Pay for reserve is mutually beneficial. Concerns remain however, regarding reserve backfilling and the potential to greatly increase the number of reserve days.
Volunteer X days
The proposal contains 2 hours additional pay for volunteering to work on an X day. While a small step in the right direction, this is well short of industry standard when compared to Jetstar and Virgin. It is important for pilots to remember that again, this is mutually beneficial and should not be considered offsetable. This solves Company crewing and disruption issues.
Pattern Credit Guarantee (PCG)
PCG is a positive step in the right direction for stability and protection of credit. However, the ability to reassign PCG within the contactability period is a major concern, and further clarity around this is needed to determine its true value. The proposed Pattern Credit Guarantee partially meets our claim for pay protection but again does not appear to be as valuable as pay protection on roster publish credits. This is an improvement but falls short of the certainty our members have advised they require around loss of hours during a roster.
DPC60
Duty Period Credit (DPC) has been an important step in the right direction for lifestyle improvements for pilots. It should be noted that DPC60 does not automatically equate to a pay rise.
Some pilots have made the assumption that if DPC60 were applied to their current rosters, they would receive a pay rise. This would only be the case if those patterns were built in the same way under the new proposal, which all indications suggest will not be the case. The positive is that in some cases, pilots can expect better efficiencies, and in turn, an improvement in lifestyle. It should be stressed however, that this is limited.
Average Daily Credit (ADC) for slips over 30 hours
Given the likelihood of longer slips in international ports, an ADC is important. However, considering the A321 range and FRMS requirements, the majority of slips are likely to be less than 30 hours. It is our view that ADC should be applied to slips over 22 hours and paid in the same manner as the LHEA (5:30).
Staff travel
It is the QPC’s position that staff travel category changes should never form part of the offsetable items in EA negotiations. This is namely because category changes do little to improve the staff travel experience for pilots when the Company use an unlimited amount of high categories for a multitude of department hirings. We do not believe staff travel category improvements should be paid for through working condition concessions. It is also worth noting that staff travel remains a benefit outside the EA.
Direct entry FOs
This is a major concession. We have relayed to the Company on multiple occasions that the crewing issues (lack of bids for SH) is primarily due to the problems in the SH EA that create an inadequate work-life balance and under-reward pilots financially. We believe addressing the concerns of the SH pilots, as outlined in our log of claims, would secure the pipe-line of SH FOs. We believe pilots making this direct-entry FO concession would further empower the Company to continue to ignore these major concerns.
Electronic sign-off and Contactability
Electronic sign-off is also a significant concession that has potentially large unintended consequences for SH pilots. The gravity of this concession should be properly considered when weighing it up against the gains. Anything that makes it easier for the Company to disrupt your flying will likely be capitalised on and as such, should be fairly accounted for. Further clarity on contactability prior to AV days is needed as it has the potential to significantly disrupt roster stability.
Duty Travel downgrade
As above, duty travel entitlement loss, particularly the removal of F class travel entitlement, is a major concession. This is extremely valuable to the Company, and while many pilots may not often benefit from their duty travel entitlements, it must be considered in terms of its tradeable value. The inflexibility of a 12 month lock-in period for J to Y class duty travel entitlement is unreasonable and like many of the concessions listed here, unaccounted for in the gains. Again, there are numerous potential unintended consequences related to the loss of these entitlements. When the AFAP negotiators asked for an accurate costing for these duty travel concessions, they were unable to provide one.
Side Letters
It is a pertinent time to remind pilots that any items negotiated in EA negotiations that rely on side letters are fundamentally flawed. There is a long history of side letters being disregarded, and it is worth noting they have very weak legal enforceability. It is therefore the QPC’s view that items requiring side letters should not form part of the tradable negotiations.
Training away from base (TAFB) allowance loss
This is a significant entitlement that many SH pilots have benefitted from. We view the removal of this entitlement as arbitrary and a lead-in to a further grab for all TAFB allowances down the track.
Wages Policy
It is timely to remind pilots that wage freezes are compounding and reverberate for your entire careers. Pilots must ask themselves if they are truly willing to pay such a high price. Once again, the junior pilots have the most to lose.
It is also worth highlighting the importance of considering purchasing power, a direct result of CPI, in your calculations with regard to the proposed agreement. In analysing the official RBA CPI figures, pilots will note they have already slid backwards significantly in purchasing power, while the Company has passed on inflation costs to consumers already (as we have outlined in a previous update).
In light of the fact that the SH variation contained a multitude of pilot concessions, we do not believe a wage concession is reasonable or tenable. As outlined above, to achieve the headline arbitrary ‘wage freeze’, the Company should look to other mechanisms that result in wage increases for the same amount of work. Further increment levels would be a good starting point.
In Summary
It is important for pilots to honestly assess the various items for the direct and indirect impact on their lives, and in the context of the wider economy and the robust aviation labour market. While all reasonable negotiations contain gains and concessions, given the SH variation concessions (which carry through to this EA), it is our belief the concessions above far outweigh the gains and do not represent a balanced and fair negotiated outcome.
The AFAP QPC does not endorse this proposal, and we believe continuing negotiations will produce a better outcome.
What Next?
We will continue to provide reasonable and accurate analysis and relevant information to pilots to balance the many emails and webinars the Company have planned to ‘sell’ the proposed agreement.
Regards,
AFAP Qantas Pilot Council
Michael Egan - Chair
Mark Gilmour - Vice- Chair
Daniel Kobeleff - Secretary
Michael Armessen - Committee Member