tumblr’s political denizens have this obsession with stating they are something, inflating their self esteem based on this transient ‘fact’ which apparently translates into reality despite a lack of any meaningful action whatsoever, and then either affecting a permanent superior attitude toward their lessors or smashing the rage switch when something contradicts this. this then leads to ganging up on people, making baseless assumptions about someone, contradicting the very essence of what they are even talking about, ignoring someone’s arguments, throwing words like ‘evil’ or ‘-ist’ around, or a plethora of other wonderful things.
it’s essentially why political discussions on this site for the most part are utterly unbearable, especially unbearable from those who claim to be all about equality. equality my fucking arse! you’re not a fucking member of the baader-meinhof gang or the PLO, you absolute nipple. you’re a twat with a blog in a sea of twats. maybe taking modesty into account in light of this fact would be nice, but then i suppose that would mean admitting you’re wrong sometimes. for you, what could be worse than that?
What the Unions Want - Australian Financial Review
Transport Workers Union
- The TWU, which is negotiating a new agreement for 3800 baggage handlers, ground staff, and ramp services staff such as caterers, asked for a 5% rise, but has already indicated this figure is negotiable and it will settle at a lower rate.
- But the TWU is concerned about Qantas’s use of cheaper contract Labour that threatens the livelihood of its members.
- The union says most of its workers on the agreement are paid a base salary of $38,000 a year and rely on shift penalties and overtime to make a wage that covers the cost of living. It says this overt time work has been undermined by contracting out over the past 18 months.
- The TWU says it understands the company needs “operational flexibility” but wants only 20% of work to be done by contracted, compared with Qantas’s preferred level of 55%.
- The TWU is also seeking:
- Protection for terms and conditions in terms of safety, training and standards – to apply to Qantas staff AND contractors.
- Qantas to resolve what it says are long-standing aviation security issues and a lack of safety protocols for employees.
- Rights of injured workers to be treated with dignity and respect
- Commitments to a mutual relationship and good faith bargaining
Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers AssociationAustralian International Pilot Association
- The ALAEA is negotiating on behalf of 1600 licensed Qantas engineers for an agreement that expired on January 1st.
- It is seeking a 3% per annum pay rise and faster progression by engineers through the payscale.
- The engineers’ most contentious clause is that the Qantas commit to local engineers doing heavy maintenance on the company’s growing fleet of new A380s in the coming years. Local engineers already do line-maintenance, or the day-to-day upkeep of planes, but heavy maintenance engineering starts on an aircraft only after several years of operation. A380s were introduced in late 2008.
- Qantas management says it does not have the scale of operation to establish a A380 maintenance hangar in Australia that would be viable. But the union says the likely alternative of “offshoring” the maintenance to the Philippines raises safety concerns.
What Qantas says
- The AIPA is negotiating the current agreement on behalf of the 1700 long-haul Qantas pilots who fly larger aircraft like Boing 747s, 767s, and Airbus A380s and A330s, and has not staged industrial action in 44 years
- The union wants a 2.5% a year wage rise which it says is negotiable
- The key issue is a Qantas flight/Qantas pilot clauses which would see all Qantas flights operated by Qantas pilots.
- Without this clause, the pilots group say the airline’s management will look to employ foreign pilots or use the lower-paid Jetstar pilots on Qantas-coded flights. The pilots are worried Qantas’s plans to move to Asia will mean that lower-skilled foreign pilots will be flying Qantas-branded flights, raising safety concerns and reducing the amount of work available for them.
- Qantas argues it cannot continue to operate if it is forced to pay all the pilots the same pay and conditions.
- AIPA says it industrial action has not cost the company a cent in revenue, delayed passengers or grounded any flights and that its entire public industrial action over the past four months has been to make a positive in-flight announcements and to wear red ties with a campaign message on them.
- There are 15 unions involved with Qantas and in the past 15 months it reached agreements with 10,000 workers represented by 4 unions over 5 enterprise agreements or 1/3 of the Qantas workforce.
- Qantas says the TWU staff are the best paid in the country – 12% high than their equivalents in Virgin Australia – and its pilots and licensed engineers are among the best compensated in the world with its long-haul pilots for example earning 50% more than their peers at Virgin.
- It claims the 3 unions are seeking pay and conditions that would put Qantas staff further beyond its competitors and that they want the right to control key elements of how the company is run.
http://www.afr.com/p/business/companies/what_the_unions_want_1XPzVNsdfoO8ijqgol4e1O
GADDAFI DEAD - AL JAZEERA
