The CEO doesn't get it

The CEO recently sent out a Friday missive; to make us all feel better.  We give you the highlights here:  (And our commentary as we go)

The first five months of 2008 have been a busy time for Airservices and there is great work underway across the whole organisation. We are working toward a goal that I strongly believe in – and that is to make Airservices a better place to work.

*In the last 3 years we’ve gutted what was once a great company that used to take advantage of our staff, now we need to submit to our new culture; nothings changed or will changed, get used to it, get happy!

Staffing Issues
 As highlighted in the Senate Estimates hearing on Wednesday – one of the areas of importance for us is the staff shortage issue, the impact on our service provision and what we as an organisation are doing to address this issue.

*We intend to crack down on your sick leave, you roster us, we work, simple, everyone wins.  Unlimited is too easy to abuse, we need a cap on it; but we will look after you if you really are sick, trust us.  Did you really state we are only 21 ATCs Short?  Is that the number for Launceston?  Surely you weren't talking of the whole company.

Yesterday I was interviewed for Azimuth and I addressed this and a number of other key organisational issues– the full transcript of this interview will be released in the June 12 edition.

*We can’t wait to read the next load of waffle, it’s not my fault, it was the last management team, right?

Collective Agreements
 I recognise that an important issue for our staff this year is the new Collective Agreements and the negotiation of these agreements are at the top of my list of priorities for this year.

*So why haven’t you indicated in anyway what you’ll be prepared to pay us, why have your negotiators come to the table, late, saying they have nothing to say for 6 weeks.

When I arrived in Airservices almost three years ago, the 2005 Certified Agreement negotiation was underway. I must tell you that based on what I saw at that time I have a strong view that we had to find a better way of conducting this process.

*The unions and others gave you a real public whooping, that god you had your government backing you up; otherwise if there was balance in the employment relationship you’d have had to pay us a descent wage and your bonus wouldn’t have been as big.

Accordingly this year I am endeavouring to have this process conducted in a manner where we build on the good work of the last couple of years and try to avoid an overly adversarial environment that, regrettably, has seemed to have characterised more recent negotiations.

*Overly adversarial, why?  It’s not rocket science, make a decent offer, then there is no problem. Lies of un-affordability, big picture issues, SAR, downturns, and preservation of record profits don’t cut it.  You always present low revenue forecasts and high costs, thus your profit always goes up and the staff always feel “SHAFTED”.  Give us a real productivity wage calculator, so if you loose, we do too (we get CPI), if you win, we do too (we get a real bonus); then we’re working together.

*Where is the evidence of this GOOD WORK?

Some people have criticised me for not engaging early enough in the process and it is important that you have some background on this issue. For this Certified Agreement we are putting significant effort into our preparation. We have also been mindful of the recently released bargaining guidelines for government agencies and have also had some discussions with the Minister, as the Government has a close interest in this issue.

*Not engaging, huh that’s a joke right?  Your lads have turned up, late, and then said there’s nothing to say.  Then they table a document they clearly don’t understand and say, “you’ll have to give up conditions to beat a CPI rise”.  You swan into building and give us the royal wave, always surrounded by your lackies and then bugger off back to Canberra and say to yourself, they are just wingers, looks like a nice place to work to me.

Union Consultation
 Formal negotiations have commenced with unions. We have met with the air traffic controllers union, Civil Air, twice in the past month, and a meeting with the United Firefighters Union on the ARFF agreement is being held next Tuesday. Meetings are being held today with the three unions covering employees in non-ATC business groups.

*So you were just late for the controllers agreement; the others matter?

Waypoint Document
 Next month at our Waypoint 2008 conference I intend to release a document that will outline our plans over the next five years to recruit, train and develop our operational workforce in Air Traffic Control, Technology and Asset Services and in the Aviation Rescue and Fire Fighting Service. This document will provide our staff and the aviation industry with a comprehensive view of our plans for this critical area of our future.

*How close to the previous plan are we?  Do your staff really care, do you honor these plans, do you make announcements when you adjust them.  This is a ‘wank fest’ and we don’t care. We think you'll use this to prevent our payrise, are we wrong?

Communication
 My aim is to keep you all informed during this process and undertake the negotiations in a genuine spirit so that hopefully we can reach an outcome in a much shorter timeframe. We intend to regularly advise staff of negotiations as they proceed through normal internal communication channels as well as a new dedicated Collective Agreement AvNet site. In addition to this, Business Group Line Managers will provide information to their staff and listen to your feedback.

*What feedback are you getting now?  Are you listening, are any Line Managers telling their bosses that the troops aren’t happy?  Why don’t you get it?

(Feel better now)