Today Qantas has announced to the media that they will be offering $5000 to over 19,000 staff on Enterprise Agreements - including staff on the ASU EBA.
But in true Qantas fashion, the money comes with some serious strings attached...
How will staff be eligible for this payment?
In order for staff on the ASU EBA to be eligible for this payment, staff must:
- Agree to an EBA 12 that includes a 2-year wage freeze and pay increases of 2%,
- Finish negotiations and have the new EBA 12 approved within 9 months, and
- Not cause any "harm" to the Company during enterprise bargaining (i.e. not make them look bad).
This payment would be a "one-off discretionary payment" so would not contribute to your wages, but it would contribute to your income for tax purposes.
What does this mean for Senior Professional Grade staff?
This payment will only be available to staff covered by ASU EBA 12. If Qantas succeeds in removing SPG staff from the EBA, SPG staff will not be eligible for this payment.
This is yet another reason why we are opposing Qantas's plan to remove SPG staff from EBA.
REMEMBER: We need all SPG staff to contribute to our campaign by telling us why its important to you to stay on the EBA. Click HERE to share your story.
What does this mean for EBA 12 negotiations?
Our negotiations for ASU EBA 12 will be determined by what kind of wages and conditions ASU members want -- not by Qantas' ability to throw cash at you in the short term. Remember Qantas offered EBA staff a cash bonus in the last EBA ... and you're still waiting to get that one.
It will be up to ASU members to decide whether you want to accept their wage freeze and 2% pay offer in return for a one-off cash payment, or whether you want to negotiate for higher wage increases over the life of the EBA.
And what's happening with EBA 12 negotiations anyway?
We wrote to Qantas a month ago (on 25 May) asking for more information about their plan for SPG staff, and to move ahead with bargaining for EBA 12. We haven't had any response.
So we've written to Qantas again this week. We'll keep members up to date on any response we do or don't get from Qantas in the next couple of weeks, and what our plans are accordingly.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the ASU on 02 9310 4000 or email your organiser Rhiannon Robson at [email protected]
And if you are not yet a member of the Australian Services Union, you can join online today at https://asujoin.asn.au/