AWAs - Line Managers

About 12 months ago, Airservices successfully divided the Air Traffic Controllers into two groups. Group one, Operational ATCs. Group two, Line Managers.

Group One:

ATCs will commence negotiating with their employer 3 weeks after the 'deadline' to do so contained in their certified agreement.  

This period of negotiating hopefully will be concluded prior to 21 December 2008, the end of the current agreement.  Hopefully there will be no need to divide the workforce further from the corporate culture than it already is.

Hopefully the negotiators for the workforce, made up of the members of Civil Air, will convince the employer that they do truly represent the workers and that a fair and reasonable offer is more than deserved.

Group Two:

Air Traffic Controllers, who previously were team leaders or operational supervisors, traffic managers, or in some cases Unit tower managers.  Most of these people accepted AWAs that were offered.  Some of these people have already moved on into retirement with all the higher benefits obtained by increasing their superannuation salary.

Some of the above mentioned supervisors received Voluntary Redundancy due to the employer not offering them suitable like type employment; others who didn't apply or accept ALM jobs also wanted Voluntary Redundancy.  The employer has claimed that they have been offered 'reasonable' other employment and there for they are not entitled to VR.

You can read the hearing transcript here: 

Day 1 www.airc.gov.au/documents/Transcripts/170308c20073792.htm

and here:

Day 2 www.airc.gov.au/documents/Transcripts/180308c20073792.htm

We still eagerly await the outcome of the hearing, held almost 2 months ago, such is life when dealing with the AIRC and any court/tribunal/arbitration processes.

Whatever the outcome, Airservices has removed around 10% of the workforce from the Certified Agreement to individual AWAs; this cannot be good in the longer term employment relationship.  There has been an ideological desire to separate managers from workers.  We still don't get why?  Because you can't supervise unless you aren't "one of the boys"?  Or you won't supervise properly unless your manager has the right to threaten your hard earned if you don't perform in your duties?

The employer looking to replace the ever departing ALM folk can no longer make an AWA with the new ALM, thanks to the new federal government, so what employment instrument can be made?

The employer has recently published "What it means for us..." article about "Workplace relations".

Essentially this 'advice' says that employees on or entitled to be on "AWAs" will be able to join a "Collective Agreement", after the nominal expiry date occurs on their current AWA.  In the fine print is that People in Management roles will transfer to a common law contract.

Remember that the employer had no desire to have a "Collective Agreement".  Management considers these positions to be Management; see above ideology.

There is scope within the current Workplace Relations laws to have a "Individual Employment Instrument" but these won't be use for employees of Airservices Australia as the government, the owner, doesn't believe in them.

So this then begs the question, will ALMs be considered Managers and moved to individual Common Law Contracts, or will they be pooled into a Collective Agreement.

If it's the latter then who is going to negotiate such a deal; is it to be part of or an addendum to the ATS Certified Agreement?  If so, are the members of Civil Air prepared to take industrial action to support those now on AWAs to get a deal that is worthwhile for the same individuals who chose to leave the fold and take the extra money on offer?