Yesterday’s decision by Fair Work Australia to terminate the fractious Qantas dispute gives the lie to the continuing criticism from business about the Fair Work Act somehow being pro-union.
Qantas has successfully exploited the national interest provisions of the Act to prevent the continuation of a dispute that Fair Work Australia found was not damaging the industry and which was capable of successful resolution by negotiation. The relevant unions had at all stages of the dispute acted within the constraints of the Fair Work Australia framework. It was Qantas and not the unions, FWA found, that was threatening the economy and, particularly, the tourism industry, with its wildcat actions.
Even so, by halting the dispute and forcing the parties to negotiate or face arbitration, FWA has rewarded Alan Joyce for his decision to cause massive dislocation through the Australian transport system, and vindicated the imported CEO. The Qantas board will be delighted their man has chanced his arm and won. The company’s share price this morning has reflected this.
How the public react, however, remains to be seen. There is deep community disquiet, not to say anger, about both the overall direction of Qantas and its decision to completely disregard the interests of the travelling public. The “slow burn” of which Joyce complained may yet come not from its staff, but from its customers — ex-customers.
Don’t blame Qantas.
Blame the unions!
Globalisation is a fact of life.
Qantas can’t survive unless it has the same wages and conditions and costs structure as other airlines on its international routes.
Qantas can’t survive in its current form on domestic routes if its cost structure is higher than Jetstar’s and Virgin’s.
The Government knows this.
The unions know it.
The travelling public knows it.
Australians might support the Qantas workers with their mouths but they haven’t been supporting them with their wallets.
If Australians really supported Qanats, they would book their domestic and international flights with Qantas, rather than Virgin, Etihad and Emirates.
Qantas needs to shut down its international brand, sell its surplus assets to the cheaper carriers and allow Jetstar to be the totality of its Australian brand.
[FWA has rewarded Alan Joyce for his decision to cause massive dislocation through the Australian transport system, and vindicated the imported CEO.]
That is a very strange interpretation. Have you been reading News Ltd again? How does forcing Joyce/Qantas to abandon its shutdown count as a win for Joyce? The unions are hardly unhappy with 21 days of forced arbitration, especially the pilots whose very moderate strategy (killer ties and on-board announcements) and 2.5% salary demands hardly look like a giant overbearing threat to Qantas.
And did you not hear Joyce’s desperate and one would have to say, ineffective and counter-productive pleading over the airwaves in the last 36 hours? None of it looks like “vindication” to me. In as much as there is little sense in over-interpreting a few hours blip in share price today, it was really a reaction of relief–that Qantas has been saved from further massive short-term losses by the FWA.
I for one would be like to be the first to congratulate young Alan for single-handedly bringing forward and making both viable and urgent, an East Coast High Speed Rail alternative.
I understand AJ feels he needs to bring Qantas costs down it his own level (not, of course as regards his salary but his stature) but in a race to the bottom in Asia, he will surely lose. I’m trying to think of the most successful European countries at the moment – surely those with the most McJobs(?) – but no, it appears to be Germany which isn’t known for the cheapness of its products. Then again, the recently-departed Steve Jobs surely understood the only way to keep Apple viable was to cut the cost of his products – but wait? Aren’t Apple products quite expensive and yet isn’t Apple one of the most successful of modern IT companies? True, Apple drives hard bargains for the build part that Foxconn provides – but even then the Foxconn workers now earn above the average. No, Jobs understood the idea of Value while Joyce only understands Cost. I think I undestand AJ’s strategy but it is doomed. Praise the Lord for Virgins
There is the potential for other businesses to take this action as a guide to the future and so the ability of Qantas to retrieve passengers in the months ahead will be closely watched by others. Somehow I doubt that many bureaucrats who are a large portion of the passengers, will be encouraged to fly Qantas in the future. Many have contracts but Virgin will definitely pick up more of that trade. The government will also be inclined to give far less favourable treatment
I agree with Peter Bayley that high speed rail will become far more likely as a result.