Qantas Airline Plans to Smash Strike With Non-Union Labor, Herald Says

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=aSPJqmOQm6Vg&refer=australia

By Gemma Daley

May 15 (Bloomberg) -- Qantas Airways Ltd., Australia's biggest airline, will smash a strike planned for tomorrow by its unionized engineers by using non-union labor from abroad, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Qantas will use labor hire company Newport Aviation to recruit engineers in a move that echoes Australia's waterfront dispute last decade, the newspaper said, citing documents.

Newport will offer ``fixed-term casual'' positions of between one and three months paying A$2,308 ($2,153) a week with a A$40,000 bonus, the Herald said.

The airline has ``made a decision,'' Qantas Chief Executive Officer Geoff Dixon told the newspaper. He declined to comment on whether the airline would use non-union labor, the Herald said. An airline spokeswoman declined to confirm or deny that Qantas had hired Newport Aviation, the newspaper reported.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gemma Daley in Canberra at [e-mail]

[Parche]

1. Damn Qantas