Qantas Airways LTD has rejected claims made by the Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) about Qantas pilots' job security being under threat, saying they are "completely unfounded."
    The threat of industrial action from AIPA comes during ongoing negotiations with Qantas management, including CEO Alan Joyce, for a new enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) for international pilots.
    "The threat of industrial action is part of the union's posturing to get increased wages and conditions for international pilots as part of the EBA negotiations and to limit the ability of Qantas Group to compete with other airlines," a company statement said.
    "Qantas values the contribution that our pilots make and management are committed to the EBA negotiations and have entered them in good faith," it said.
    "Qantas has not made a pilot redundant in almost 40 years and there is no threat to the job security of our pilots."
    It went on to say that "Qantas management would be very disappointed if industrial action being threatened by AIPA went ahead as it would have an impact on the business and cause disruptions for our passengers."
    However, Qantas management stressed that in a meeting held earlier this week union representatives made no mention of their threat of industrial action.
    "It is important to note that the overall wage claim from AIPA is not 2.5 per cent as the union has suggested. The combined effect of the wage claim, classification table and travel claims submitted by AIPA is a cost increase of approximately 26 per cent over three years, equivalent to an 8.15 per cent increase year on year," Qantas management said.
    Qantas management is also opposed to union demands that only Qantas pilots should fly planes in other Qantas Group airlines, namely Jetstar and Jetconnect.
    "Jetstar is a separate company which is competing with other low-fare airlines - not with the premium service offered by Qantas," the airline said. "The claims made by AIPA would, if conceded, put the real job security of many thousands of Qantas Group employees at risk."

Source: schednet