Qantas engineers have joined the fight against job cuts at the airline, by announcing a stop work campaign that will last until Christmas.
From next Thursday engineers in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide will take turns to stop work for one hour each day.
The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association has announced the industrial action, saying Qantas engineers have been negotiating with the airline to ensure their job security for nearly a year.
It says the Qantas announcement of new Asian-based airlines shows those negotiations have come to nothing.
Talks between the airline and unions broke down again yesterday.
Union federal secretary Steve Purvinas says they do not accept Qantas management's rationale.
"The ALAEA cannot accept claims by the airline that its international arm is losing money when load factors are higher than they have ever been and fuel is 25 per cent cheaper than their most profitable year in 2008," Mr Purvinas said in a statement.
"To move operations into Asia is fraught with financial risks that could bring the entire group down."
The association has offered to organise for other workers to cover for those on strike, provided they are paid overtime.
"We acknowledge the needs of customers and for this reason we will offer to provide replacement workers to Qantas, left short of labour. Should Qantas refuse our offer, disruptions would be of their own making," Mr Purvinas said.
Source: http://www.abc.net.au
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