Aust. pilots stop work

Press, 20 February 1989, Page 6

Aust. pilots stop work

NZPA-AAP Melbourne The largest Australian airline pilot stoppage in 15 years was set to throw the travel plans of an estimated 40,000 passengers into chaos from midnight last night. More than 2000 pilots employed by the main domestic airlines and other domestic carriers were to stop work for 24 hours to attend meetings throughout Australia. The Australian Federation Of Air Pilots’ president, Mr Brian McCarthy, said last evening the pilots would be briefed on the wage system and future developments. Pilots are protesting at the “compression” of their wages resulting from Xe Accord rises for the Sral workforce, plus Ky rises for.. manage-r and executives.

Mr McCarthy said he expected a resolution to emerge from today’s meetings, but whether this meant further industrial action would depend on the mood of the pilots. “They met last August in a series of extraordinary meetings and decided they did not want any more flat wage increases," he said. “They want to maintain their salary levels because middle income earners have suffered a depression in their salaries because of flat wage increases.” Mr McCarthy said the meetings, called at the request of the pilots, had been triggered by the recent Australian Council of Trade Unions’ decision to go for a flat $3O a week and a $2O dollar cut.