Late yesterday the AFAP lodged a Form F24B application (click here) and Form F24C declaration (click here) in the Fair Work Commission (“FWC”) to terminate the Express Freighters Australia (Operations) Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2021 (“Agreement” or “existing Agreement”).
The decision to apply to terminate the existing Agreement was taken after a meeting of EFA pilot reps from each of the Unions earlier this week.
As most EFA pilots would be aware, the last salary increase under the existing Agreement was on 1 January 2024. Since that time the underpinning Air Pilots Award 2020 (“Award”) has received two increases (1 July 2024 and 1 July 2025). This means that the line pilot salaries payable under the existing Agreement are now well below the line pilot salary rates in the Award. The company is always quick to point out the existing Agreement contains a 5% incentive/all purpose allowance which the Award does not provide but slow to recognise that the Award contains other benefits which the existing Agreement does not, such as:
- Provision for days off only to be changed by agreement (Cl 15.8(f));
- Night operations allowance (cl 20.2(b));
- Overseas duty allowance (cl 20.2(d));
- Loss of Licence reimbursement (cl 20.3(c));
- 5% leave loading (cl 23.5).
- etc
Terminating an Agreement is a very unusual step for a union to make. Unions generally only make such applications in the case of very out of date, so-called “Zombie” agreements. Terminating relatively recently expired agreements while a replacement agreement is being negotiated has generally been the domain of employers looking to significantly increase their bargaining leverage. That the AFAP has been drawn to employ this option demonstrates just how deficient the existing Agreement really is.
Because this is not a step which the AFAP has previously taken, we cannot provide definitive guidance on how Qantas/EFA will respond or how long the process will take. The next step is that the FWC will seek EFA’s position towards the application and we expect that there will be a conference or conferences after this. It could be a long or relatively short process.
Should the application be successful and the existing Agreement terminated, we also do not know how the company will treat the few pilots who would be better off under the existing Agreement, such as some check and training staff. The company is certainly under no obligation to reduce any employee’s current terms and conditions. The Award provides minimum terms and conditions and for the company to assert it needs or is somehow legally obliged to reduce any existing benefits is simply untrue.
In any event, while the termination application is considered by the FWC, the existing Agreement remains in place.
Our hope is that the company will see this as a wake-up call and get serious about the current negotiations. This means setting dates for the next bargaining meetings and demonstrating a willingness to offer a package which has some possibility of being accepted by a majority of EFA pilots. Repeating trumped up percentage increases from an embarrassingly low base without any reference to the market or recognition of the re-fleeting efficiencies forced through in the last round of bargaining does not create an agreement capable of being accepted. It simply inflames the current situation.
That pilots even consider that they would be better off under the “safety net” Award is an embarrassment for a company that just announced a near record profit and an insult to the skill and expertise of the EFA pilots’ flying aircraft to the same standard as other pilots within the group but at a fraction of the pay and conditions.
As always, we will keep you informed of developments.
Thank you again for your support as we work to achieve a fair and reasonable agreement at EFA.
If you have any questions on the above, please contact us directly or Simon Lutton at the AFAP on mobile: 0419 482 582 or email simon@afap.org.au.
In Unity
Susha Semenikow and Dean McMahon
AFAP EFA Pilot Representatives