EA Bargaining Update
As you and every other AFAP member working for the Alliance Group will be aware of, early this week (Monday 16/12) Alliance Group management released both:
- a (new) proposed Queensland enterprise agreement (EA); and,
- a (new) proposed Adelaide EA.
You'll undoubtedly also be aware that separate ballots for the two proposed EAs are to occur next Tuesday (24/12).
Which Way to Vote?
That is now the obvious issue for all Queensland, and South Australian, Pilots to individually decide.
Whatever decision is made by the majority of Pilots in each of the upcoming ballots, it will certainly have a substantial impact on the working lives of each and every Pilot employed by the Alliance Group in Queensland or South Australia, not only immediately, but for several years to come.
As a consequence, like each and every EA ballot conducted across the industry, the AFAP strongly recommends that all members make the effort to weigh up both the advantages and disadvantages of what is on offer, before going ahead and casting your vote in the ballot.
That way you will be sufficiently informed to appropriately cast your vote!
Ballot Procedures
It is important to note that in the upcoming two (2) ballots, the outcome will be decided solely by those Pilots who actually participate in the ballot.
For example, let us suggest that for some unknown reason only ten (10) Pilots in total in the Adelaide base, decide to participate in their ballot. In that scenario, the outcome of the EA ballot would then be decided by how the majority of those ten Pilots voted.
There would be no consideration of the fact that only 10 Pilots voted, or that the views of the vast majority of Adelaide Pilots were never heard.
Rather, not voting is not counted as either a YES vote or a NO vote. Consequently, the AFAP urges all members in Queensland and South Australia to participate in their particular ballot, and ensure that your vote counts.
The AFAP had also become aware in recent days of some claims that were circulating that Alliance Group management could somehow still make changes to one or both proposed EAs, to improve provisions in the documents before the ballots are conducted next Tuesday.
That is totally incorrect. Although there is nothing stopping Alliance Group management from making changes even now to either draft EA, under the provisions of the FW Act, they would then be obliged to send out copies of the newly revised draft EA to all Pilots in the applicable State, and then hold off a further seven (7) full days before conducting a ballot concerning the amended EA.
As such, in the ballot to be held next Tuesday, all Pilots in South Australian and Queensland will be voting on the particular version of the EA sent out by Alliance Group management late this past Monday night.
Explanation – Proposed EAs
Under the FW Act, prior to the ballots to be conducted next Tuesday, Alliance Group management is required to have taken all reasonable steps to explain the terms of the applicable EA, and the effect of those terms, to each and every Pilot that will be covered by either of the proposed EAs.
They are also required to give all eligible Pilots the opportunity to properly review and consider the contents of the applicable proposed EA, before then participating in the EA ballot.
The AFAP is aware that a ‘Town Hall’ meeting was conducted on Wednesday afternoon (18/12) for Adelaide based Pilots. As yet, AFAP staff have not yet received a full account of exactly what information re the proposed South Australian EA was provided in that meeting. If any member took comprehensive notes of what was said, AFAP staff would certainly appreciate hearing from you. The same applies for any further meetings in Adelaide that are conducted in coming days.
Obviously, the same request is made to Queensland members, in relation to any meeting(s) that management has conducted, or subsequently conducts, in Queensland before Tuesday’s ballot.
Matters to Consider - Proposed EAs
In short, the matters that all members in Queensland or South Australian should be considering before next Tuesday’s ballot, are whether the provisions in the proposed EA (applicable to them) are appropriate overall, and are close or better than current industry standards.
To that end, in the AFAP’s Update earlier this week, we provided a link to the original joint AFAP and TWU Log of Claims presented to Alliance Group management, at the start of bargaining in Queensland, and then in South Australia.
To be clear, the AFAP and the TWU knew right from the outset of bargaining in both States, that we would never get each and every item in those two Logs. From experience, you never do.
However, your AFAP representatives (along with those from the TWU) had decided that the conditions in the existing F100 EAs had certainly passed their ‘use by date’, meaning that each of the new EAs had to be seriously revamped, in order to catch them up with to current "industry standards”.
We made that clear to Alliance Group management on multiple occasions very early in the various negotiations. We had expected that Alliance Group management, over time, would come to realise that was the appropriate outcome.
If you haven’t already had a look at those Logs yet, we suggest you do that ASAP.
Likewise, below is a link to a draft VARA EA, put out to a ballot of its Pilot group a few weeks ago. Critically a majority of the VARA Pilot group rejected the draft EA, but it gives some clear indication of what other operators are offering their Pilots currently.
Draft VARA EA
Meanwhile, the AFAP also recommends to all members in Queensland and South Australia that you should be looking very closely at the actual wording of the proposed EA that you have received from Alliance Group management. It is important that you fully understand:
- what's conditions are actually included in the proposed EAs; and
- (just as importantly) what conditions are not included in the EAs.
Please note that Alliance Group management effectively excluded the AFAP Bargaining Teams, in both Queensland and South Australia, from having any input into the drafting process for the latest versions of either of the proposed EAs. In those circumstances, your AFAP Bargaining Teams were denied any opportunity to propose any necessary edits or changes, or even offer suggested improvements, to the wording of the two separate draft EAs, before they were then sent out to the two Pilot groups, in preparation for the upcoming ballots.
The TWU, by contrast, did get an opportunity to have some input in the past week re the content of the two proposed EAs. However, even then, the AFAP understands that some changes that apparently were agreed to, somehow never eventuated in the draft version of the EAs that have now been released to Pilots in Queensland and South Australia.
In summary, if you are based in Queensland or South Australia, this all means that it is essential that you have a good understanding of the content/wording of the applicable EA prior to Tuesday's ballot.
Northern Territory EA
The TWU reported that during their discussions with Alliance Group management late last week, that a commitment to start EA negotiations in the first half of 2025 was given.
The AFAP unfortunately has as yet not received any similar commitment.
On behalf of all Darwin based members, the AFAP is certain that the news of upcoming negotiations is welcomed. That said, any excitement should, in part, be tempered by the knowledge that negotiations for the Queensland EA have now been on-going for approximately 18 months, whilst in South Australia it is now over 12 months.
However, it is possible that if the Alliance Group is successful in either of the ballots conducted next week, they may just offer a copy of that EA to Darwin based Pilots, and go ahead at some point in the future with a ballot.
Final Point
Watch out for further AFAP Updates in coming days.
If any AFAP member at the Alliance Group has any questions about this Update, please contact AFAP Senior Industrial Officer James Mattner (at james@afap.org.au).