THE SILENT REVIEW_WINTER EDITION 2021_WEB

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THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING A FAAA MEMBER By Steven Reed - Industrial Officer When I was asked to write a small article to outline the successes of the union over the years, my first thought was how do you condense decades of specialised Cabin Crew representation into a small article. Having said that, let’s firstly list a few things that the wider union movement achieved for workers in Australia. Annual leave, Long service Leave, Penalty rates, maternity leave, Superannuation, Equal pay for women, Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation, Sick leave, Redundancy payments, meal breaks and rest breaks, collective bargaining and unfair dismissal protection. Can you imagine your job as a flight attendant without these conditions that we take for granted? You would have none of these provisions without the work of the union movement and yet that almost seems impossible to believe but it’s true. Let’s just spend a few moments thinking about the job of Cabin crew and what our small union has achieved for us over the decades we have existed. Promotion for Women – did you know that it was the union that made it possible in Qantas for women to be promoted? Until the 1980’s it was the exclusive purview of male cabin crew and Qantas continued to discriminate against women even after the laws changed until the Union took the matter to court. Hard to believe but that’s the fact of the matter Outrageous treatment of Women Women had to leave if they decided to get married – how would you feel if your employer said you cannot be married and a flight attendant? Well Qantas used to do that, they also used to weigh you at sign on if you were a female and if you had put on a few pounds you were stood down until you lost the weight? Women couldn’t get the job of a flight attendant if married and had to leave if they wanted to marry. Can you believe that marriages were kept “quiet”, so you didn’t lose your job? Women were required to retire at age 35 as that was their use by date according to Qantas. Can you believe that? The union movement even now is fighting for appropriate payment and conditions around transfer to safe job when pregnant and your Doctor suggests that you give up flying for medical reasons. Staff Travel Single employees could not have anyone other than a family member on their staff travel. The FAAA was the first union to press for Buddy travel against a lot of opposition. We were the Union that achieved the ability to change that nominated beneficiary every two years and subsequently every 6 months. We still believe that this can be improved on, but who will do it if the FAAA doesn’t? Home Transport provisions Nobody could possibly understand how it feels when you get off a Long Range Flight and feel like you have been hit by a bus. Would you feel safe to drive home? It was the FAAA that fought for proper transport provisions and negotiated boundaries. These were further improved in EBA10. Can you imagine how unsafe it would be without home transport? Horizontal Crew Rest Did you know that Cabin crew had to go on strike in 1981 to get horizontal crew rest? The Company even now wants to use A330 aircraft on Long Range Flights and we are fighting for proper crew rest. If the FAAA doesn’t fight who will? Crew Rest seats Did you know that crew rest seats had to be fought for as part of an agreement? Prior to the FAAA getting crew rest seats you might have been allowed to sit in a spare passenger seat or a jump seat but you were not allowed to close your eyes? Sounds like a fairy tale? It’s not, 20 WINTER EDITION 2021
ut what we take for granted now was fought for and we continue to have that fight to retain it in every EBA. Redundancy Provisions The provisions of the EBA provide amongst the most generous redundancy provisions in Australia. The union movement achieved that through collective bargaining. Can you imagine being made redundant after decades and only getting 12 weeks redundancy? That’s what you face without the EBA conditions that were achieved by your FAAA. Watershed decision Talking to those that preceded my time at the FAAA the universal view is that the 1974 Award was the watershed for Flight Attendants in Australia. Not only did it provide a set of working conditions that recognised that international crew had a unique set of working conditions but it for the first time outlined proper rest provisions for cabin crew. It also provided pay rises and was a hard-fought win for the union against an airline that contested every aspect of the union claim. Has much changed in that opposition to fair and reasonable working conditions by employers? Accommodation and Allowances Our EBA refers to “first class accommodation and meals” – this was a union win in 1980’s. The meals are calculated on the menus published at the hotels that we stay at. The airlines are trying to drive down the cost of accommodation and meals and in EBA 11 they want to get rid of cash meal allowances and have them paid in arrears into your bank account a couple of weeks after the trip. EBA 11 will determine whether you can feed yourself and whether your accommodation will be suitable for the fact that you spend most of your working life away from home in a hotel. What impact would that have on you? Are your credit cards already maxed out? Can you even get credit cards with what you have lost during COVID? These are a couple of things at risk now that the Union fought hard for and we take for granted now. Work Health and Safety The FAAA has led the way over many decades in the WHS field. Despite the laws protecting Health and Safety representatives Airlines have tried to bully and influence WHS representatives. It is the FAAA and your elected team that have been behind your rep’s supporting them and providing advice and strength. If not the FAAA who is going to do that? Our next EBA will be conducted in an environment where your conditions are under threat and you will have limited capacity to take any protected action because you are stood down or not working. Why do you think that the Company is so desperate to get this done before flying starts to ramp-up? Don’t forget, your membership of the FAAA will be the difference between the Company taking advantage of the Pandemic and stripping your conditions ,and you being able to place yourself in the best position to defend the things important to you by having a strong and united FAAA representing you. Don’t take any of these things above for granted. Whilst some are contained in the Basic Cabin Crew Modern Award; the difference between that and your EBA is massive. Stay strong, stay united and stay FAAA. BLAKEY’S BYTES When did you last back up your data? It always a good idea to perform regular back ups of your data, so if you haven’t done so recently, take the time to do so. For complete peace of mind, set your device to automatically back up every night when on charge. WINTER EDITION 2021 21
Page 1 and 2: WINTER EDITION 2021 THE SILENT REVI
Page 3 and 4: EDITOR’S NOTE Well, here we are a
Page 5 and 6: ele works” se and informatio paym
Page 7 and 8: QANTAX Public Accountants & Taxatio
Page 9 and 10: Income Protection Looking for peace
Page 11 and 12: WINTER EDITION 2021 11
Page 13 and 14: Neale Murphy, John Hill and the Tea
Page 17 and 18: to use. Prior to stand down and joi
Page 19: COMPENSATION LAWYERS 1800 455 725 N
Page 23 and 24: We’re a not-for-profit health fun
Page 25 and 26: Passengers are the variable in our
Page 29 and 30: CGR ELECTRICAL FULLY LICENSED RELIA
Page 31 and 32: In 2019 I was the proud recipient o
Page 33 and 34: • Electrical Repairs and Re-wirin
Page 35 and 36: Owned and operated by: Pen Esquivel
Page 37 and 38: FAAA Discount Offer PREORDER COFFEE

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