Days after the company’s engineers went on strike for a better pay contract, the Australian pilots union announced on Tuesday that it has rejected a wage proposal from Qantas Airways. The proposal was specifically for its short-haul pilots.
The proposal included a two-year wage freeze and higher minimum guaranteed hours. It also offered more standby pay and guaranteed reimbursements for flying hours lost due to unforeseen delays or schedule changes during a roster period.
According to the Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP), “pilots viewed Qantas’ insistence on a two-year wage freeze despite being highly profitable while also seeking concessions on key conditions as unreasonable.”
For the fiscal year 2024, the national airline reported an annual profit after taxes of A$1.25 billion ($865.8 million).
63.4% of the 786 short-haul Qantas pilots who cast ballots opposed the agreement.
The airline’s engineers went on strike last Thursday over demands, including a 5% yearly pay increase. The airline rejected this plan in the wake of their actions.
The pilots’ union warned of escalation if the airline rejected the result of the vote.
“This negotiation could escalate if Qantas chooses to ignore the vote outcome and resort to its traditional hostile bargaining tactics,” AFAP Executive Director Simon Lutton stated in a statement, without offering any clarification.
According to a Qantas representative who spoke to Reuters, “the agreement we put to vote included a number of structural improvements to pay and rostering conditions that our pilots had been seeking for many years.”
“Given the outcome, we will now take some time to consider next steps.”
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