PM Transcripts

PRIME MINISTER
FOR MEDIA 10 OCTOBER 1989
The Government welcomes the decision of the Australian
Industrial Relations Commission handed down this afternoon.
The Commission's decision is a complete vindication of the
stand taken by the Government from the beginning of this
dispute and of the correctness of the actions taken by the
airlines as responsible employers with the support of the
Government. Furthermore the decision applies to the pilots quite
strictly the guidelines that have been applied to all other
workers. This principle has been fundamental to the
Government's position throughout this dispute.
The wage fixing system and thereby the restructuring of the
Australian economy, which have been threatened by the
pilots, have been protected.
Also protected, quite properly, have been the rights of
those pilots already employed by the companies in their
re-building programs.
By expressing the view that awards should be made in terms
of the existing contracts, the AIRC has settled the issue of
pilots' remuneration.
The way is now clear for pilots to continue to return to
work by signing the contracts which have now been endorsed
by the AIRC and which will form the basis of a new award.
Enormous damage has been done to Australia's tourism
industry by the past actions of the AFAP. The Government
hopes that the airlines will be quickly rebuilt to allow the
provision of normal services as soon as technically
possible. The future involvement in the airline industry of the AFAP
is now in its own hands. The AIRC has laid out a process
whereby it would be appropriate for the AFAP to be bound by
the awards, in the words of the Commission, " provided the
bans on seeking employment with the companies are lifted,
provided that the AFAP is prepared to undertake to accept
decisions of the Commission and provided the AFAP is
prepared to give the necessary undertakings required by the
National Wage Case decision."
The Government calls on pilots to rejoin the industry under
the new award.