Qantas statement on engineers' industrial action
31-Mar-2010 Qantas today said that industrial action by professional engineers over the Easter period would have no impact on its operations or passengers.
Qantas Group Executive Government and Corporate Affairs, Mr David Epstein, said the action was part of an ongoing industrial campaign by the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers (APESMA) - one that had not affected the airline's services in any way.
"This union has been taking sporadic industrial action since late 2009," Mr Epstein said.
"It has continually tried to undermine passenger confidence in Qantas, including before the Christmas and New Year holidays in 2009. On each occasion, its claims that our customers' travel plans would be disrupted have proved incorrect.
"Professional engineers number around 190 in our total engineering workforce of 5700. We have more than sufficient engineering expertise, and contingency plans in place, to cover for any action initiated by APESMA.
"It is disappointing that APESMA continues to use these scare tactics against Qantas. The suggestion that safety will be compromised by the action is untrue and irresponsible.
"Our customers can travel with confidence over the Easter period - and safety, as always, will be our first priority.
"The real issue in this dispute is APESMA's unreasonable pay claim of 18 per cent over three years.
We remain committed to negotiating a solution, but will not be influenced by union scaremongering."