(Reuters) – The Australian Federation of Pilots (AFAP) said on Friday it has advised an unit of Qantas Airways it will stop work on Wednesday to Thursday next week in a bid to negotiate wages.
AFAP members make up over 90 per cent of the pilot group employed by Qantas’ unit Network Aviation. The union has been negotiating with airline management over wage policy revisions in the resource-rich state, which is home to large deposits of iron ore and natural gas.
Qantas in a separate statement deemed the actions by the union “unreasonable escalation of the dispute”.
“It is disappointing that there has not been any indication in that last four weeks that Qantas management might shift its position to bring its WA-based pilots’ wages and conditions into line with those of other Qantas Group pilots,” said Chris Aikens, senior industrial officer of AFAP.
Qantas is currently trying to explore available avenues to make an agreement that benefits its pilots and meets the needs of the business, it added.
(Reporting by Nausheen Thusoo, additional reporting by Echha Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Sohini Goswami and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
