Qantas pilots in Western Australia to strike for 24 hours over pay deal

Qantas pilots who operate passenger, charter and fly-in-fly-out (Fifo) services in Western Australia will stop work for 24 hours next week, as workers negotiating a new pay deal complain of wages “significantly lower” compared to other airlines. The Australian Federation of Air Pilots (Afap), which represents pilots employed by Network Aviation – a subsidiary of Qantas Group which operates Qantas Link, Fifo and charter services for the airline in Western Australia – said it notified Qantas management on Thursday afternoon about the stop work action. Members will proceed with a 24-hour stoppage of all work on Wednesday 4 October. The stop work action could affect more than 50 flights, including Qantas Link routes from Perth to regional WA towns such as Exmouth, Karratha, Geraldton and Kalgoorlie, as well as to mine sites. More than 85% of Network Aviation’s 250 pilots are Afap members, and of those, 99.5% voted in favour of taking legally protected industrial action, which included a number of work bans and work stoppages approved by the Fair Work Commission. The Guardian understands many pilots at the Qantas subsidiary are on base award rates, earning the same as entry level pilots, despite greater performance expectations. Senior industrial officer Chris Aikens said the Afap “is disappointed that we have had to take this action”. The Afap has been genuinely negotiating and trying to reach an agreement with Qantas management but the company remains unwilling to revisit its inflexible wages policy instituted under the former CEO [Alan Joyce],” Aitkens said.<br/>