Wow, the Unions here in Australia involved with the aviation industry just seem to get more stupid by the day! Not content with their members having among the highest wages in the industry while working at Qantas, they seem to be hellbent on stopping Qantas from achieving its full potential. Over the years, the Unions have (through industrial campaigns such as strikes) forced upon Qantas some of the highest wages and best conditions for its members in the aviation industry. Yet they now wonder incredulously why Qantas' international arm is suffering losses financially. It's simple - the Unions, in trying to get higher wages and more ridiculous perks and conditions, have priced their members out of the market. Qantas simply cannot sustain these ridiculous wage rises and demands of job security. It's got to come down to the Unions realising that their members have it extremely good at Qantas and that their actions are only going to hurt the airline and ultimately its staff. The latest ploy by Unions here is to have daily 1-hour strikes by engineers with Union-affiliated engineers filling their places in overtime shifts, thereby causing considerable expense to Qantas. How is this kind of stupidity going to help the cause of the Unions (not that I believe they have one they can justify) when they continue to make their workforce even more expensive to the airliine which employs them? It really is sheer lunacy!!!

One of the issues with the wages is they go back before a strong Aussie dollar. The Aussie dollar is now one of the stronger currencies in the world which has inflated those salaries even more (without having a wage increase).

One of the issues with the wages is they go back before a strong Aussie dollar. The Aussie dollar is now one of the stronger currencies in the world which has inflated those salaries even more (without having a wage increase).

Yes but (and I comment without having any opinion on the merit or otherwise of these actions) the strength or weakness of a currency makes little difference to the spending power of salary-earners within any given country (unless they're spending all their money on imported goods), it just makes it less expensive to travel abroad. And shouldn't the strong Aussie dollar bring fuel prices down for Qantas (since oil is priced in US dollars) thereby making their operating costs lower?

Yes but (and I comment without having any opinion on the merit or otherwise of these actions) the strength or weakness of a currency makes little difference to the spending power of salary-earners within any given country (unless they're spending all their money on imported goods), it just makes it less expensive to travel abroad. And shouldn't the strong Aussie dollar bring fuel prices down for Qantas (since oil is priced in US dollars) thereby making their operating costs lower?

Agreed...However the OP's claims that QANTAS are the highest paid in the industry comes from the accountants fudging numbers....They had a contract that has ballooned with a rising Aussie dollar compared to the USA dollar that is now becoming a peso

I can't help but think that the OP is just on an anti-union rant. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like a biased post without presenting both sides of the situation, so it is hard to come to a conclusion based on what he has written. He doesn't seem to give any specific examples as to how "Unions here in Australia involved with the aviation industry just seem to get more stupid by the day", or the "ridiculous perks and conditions" that the unions are trying to get. It would be nice to know details. A quick search reveals a few things that unions are asking for: - job security (due to some jobs being moved offshore or to contractors)- pilots flying for Jetstar to be paid the same as Qantas pilots (apparently Jetstar is the low-cost airline owned by Qantas)- 3% wage increase for Engineering union (already agreed to before Christmas)- Engineering union also list some job protection demands regarding licensing, who works on electronic systems, right to appeal disciplinary procedures, etc. There is obviously strong language being used on both sides, but some of it seems overly dramatic. As for the job action being taken by the unions, that is their right. Yes it makes it difficult for the company - that is the point! As long as the union is acting legally, you kind of have to deal with it. - Martin

These companies would do well to pay their CEO's a little less. I know Unions have their issues but the crap a company would pull on staff without representation is unreal. I many here forget what got Unions started in the first place. Many hear have never seen the working conditions people had to work under before laws were passed to balance everything out. Let's fix how Unions operate but doing away with them entirely would be a disaster for the common man...