The Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) will be unable to take industrial action before 2015 after Fair Work Australia rubber stamped a proposed agreement struck between Qantas and the union before Christmas.
The determination on employment terms and conditions covers 1600 engineers and will remain in place until the last day of 2014.
Arbitration with the pilots’ union and Transport Workers’ Union is continuing before FWA.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the agreement hands engineers “reasonable pay increases” but does not include any of the “restrictive demands” the carrier claimed would have handed control of the airline to unions.
The carrier will have the flexibility to “operate competitively in the global aviation industry”, it said.
“After such a damaging industrial campaign by the licenced aircraft engineers union last year, it is a relief that this issue has finally drawn to a close,” Joyce said. “This is a positive outcome that will allow Qantas to move forward with certainty and allow our customers to continue to book with confidence. The union cannot take any industrial action before 2015.”
He said other unions still in arbitration are also unable to take industrial action both during the arbitration process and for the period of the EBA determination, which could be up to four years.
