Last week Labour released their employment policies and front and centre in them was a return to the style of union bully tactics we had in the 70s and 80s. Darien Fenton on launching the policy and strategies told us that their plans would resemble the arrangements that Australia “enjoys”.
I wonder how the public in Australia is enjoying their unions now:
Qantas Airways grounded all of its aircraft around the world indefinitely on Saturday due to ongoing strikes by its workers.
The Australian carrier’s entire fleet of 108 aircraft will remain grounded until unions representing pilots, mechanics and other ground staff reach an agreement with the airline over pay and conditions, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce told a news conference in Sydney.
“We have decided to ground the Qantas international and domestic fleets immediately,” Joyce said.
Flights already in the air when the announcement was made were to continue to their destinations.
Staff will not be required to show up at work and will not be paid starting Monday, Joyce said.
Joyce said he made the decision early Saturday and then gained the approval of the Qantas board.
The airline had been forced to reduce and reschedule flights for weeks because of a series of strikes and overtime work bans over staff concerns that their jobs are being moved overseas.
As is usual the union shave tried to muscle unreasonable demands from the company and as a result the board has decided that it is cheaper for the company in the longrun to shut down for a period of time rather than continue to suffer ongoing unpredictability from stroppy unions.
The tourism industry has been brought to its knees by unions:
“Now we are facing the uncertainty of this decision, forced by the unwillingness of unions to accept the globally competitive nature of tourism and aviation,” he said.
“The 500,000 people directly employed in Australia’s $94 billion tourism industry do not deserve to have their livelihoods threatened by this, which could be the straw that breaks the camels back.”
This sort of thing is precisely what labour has promised to deliver to us after the generale election should they win. Their opening address clearly signals a return to the cloth cap socialism that dogged this nation in the 70s and 80s. Rampant unionsim that saw projects like the Mangere Bridge stalled for year after year after year through industrial sabotage by the unions.
Qantas has shown us what we can expect if Phil Goff and his band of mediocrity are returned to the treasury benches.
