Arbitration Dates Set
Further to our recent brief, we can now confirm that after establishing the topics to be arbitrated on, the Fair Work Commission has now confirmed that the full arbitration hearing will take place over three days from 1st to the 3rd of October. These three days should in theory address the evidence submitted for all the unagreed 11 items, but if there is not enough time to do so further dates would have to be set aside by the commission. While it is difficult to estimate how long a decision would be after the hearing, it would not be an unreasonable guess to expect something early in 2025.
With that in mind and with the need to now prepare evidence for the hearing, the AFAP met with the legal team last week and a meeting with your local reps will be taking place this week, as we pull together important evidence. It is highly likely that we shall also be approaching members to provide direct evidence over how the current workplace conditions for Network Pilots put you at a disadvantage to others within the industry and how the lack of obtaining an EA has impacted pilots and their families. Further requests for assistance will be coming soon from your reps.
In addition please remember to complete your nomination forms for the new Council that were sent round this week. This has become even more important now that its becoming clear that Network management are not wanting to consult properly with pilots on any matters of importance, and consequently a strong Council will be required to face these challenges.
If you have any questions about the roles of a rep please contact either your local reps directly or the AFAP.
Stephen Maughan:
smaughan@iinet.net.au
Ben Walmsley:
ben.walms@gmail.com
In addition, the AFAP Senior Industrial Officer Chris Aikens is contactable on
chris@afap.org.au