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Via the SMH: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/...50cwg.html

Airservices Australia staff to strike for 24 hours as talks break down


By Doug Dingwall
30 October 2018 — 5:57pm

Talking points

• Talks for a new workplace deal at Airservices Australia have reached an impasse
  
• Staff will begin a full-day stoppage from 10pm on Tuesday
  
• Airservices says the strike won't disrupt flights
  

Airservices Australia staff will strike for 24 hours after a breakdown in talks with their bosses over pay and conditions amid claims support workers are being treated as second class citizens.

Support staff will begin a stoppage at 10pm on Tuesday in a move the main public sector union says will leave managers scrambling to contain the disruption.

The agency, which manages the nation's airspace and provides air traffic control, said flights would not be affected and that it had negotiated in good faith with staff.

Community and Public Sector Union deputy national president Lisa Newman said Airservices bosses had refused to improve their offer to its members despite warning they could strike unless there was compromise.

Airservices was using a double standard in negotiating a new workplace deal for support staff by agreeing to better pay and conditions for air traffic controllers and firefighters, she said.

"Support staff deserve the same job security and other rights, and to get the same pay rises at the same time as other Airservices workers,” Ms Newman said.

“Airservices workers haven’t had a pay rise in more than a year, yet they are being expected to agree to a low pay offer in exchange for unreasonable cuts.

"If we cannot settle on a fair agreement we will have no choice but to take further industrial action, which would be regrettable.”

Airservices said it was trying to negotiate a simpler agreement that aligned with the federal government's workplace bargaining policy capping pay rises at 2 per cent.

"We have continued to adjust our offer to staff during negotiations," a spokeswoman said.

Different enterprise agreements cover Airservices Australia staff, depending on their work. Unions representing engineers, administrative workers and technical support staff say recently-negotiated agreements for firefighters and air traffic controllers are more generous.

Professionals Australia, a union for engineering staff and scientists, said its members would strike for two hours on Wednesday.

Union organiser Brendan Forde said members rejected a plan to strip rights of union delegates from the enterprise agreement.

"Negotiations are getting nowhere. Part of the reason is the same old story, it's the same old play book about how this government has decided to handle enterprise bargaining. They are really dragging their feet," he said.

Ms Newman said in the case of a critical system failure, relevant staff would stop striking to resolve the problem. Electrical Trades Union members working at Airservices will also take industrial action this week, and air traffic control instructors represented by Civil Air will strike for a day.

Unions and Airservices had failed to reach agreement after 24 bargaining meetings, Civil Air said, blaming the government's "hardline" approach.

Professionals Australia told Fair Work earlier this year it asked Airservices to start negotiations in February 2017 but waited six months for talks to begin, leaving a month before the old agreement expired.