Aircraft engineers offered free pair pants to sign new pay deal with Airbus

Aircraft engineers at a RAAF base in NSW have been offered an extra pair of $55 work pants as a ‘sweetener’ to sign a new pay deal, the AWU claims.

A C-130 Hercules display at Avalon 2023. Engineers employed by Airbus to maintain the aircraft are taking industrial action after being offered a pair of pants as an incentive to sign a new pay deal. Picture: RAAF

Aircraft engineers employed by Airbus at the Royal Australian Air Force base at Richmond have been offered an extra pair of work pants as an incentive to sign a new pay deal.

The 100 engineers maintain the C-130 Hercules at Richmond, and have been offered a 2.5 per cent pay rise a year for the next three years.

The Australian Workers Union described the pay offer as “pitiful” and the offer of work pants even worse.

AWU New South Wales branch secretary Tony Callinan said he had never before seen pants used as a “negotiating tactic”.

“The CEO of Airbus pockets $5.5m annually, and King Gee work pants go for $55 at Lowes — that’s 100,000 pairs of pants,” Mr Callinan said.

“Management are truly flying by the seat of their pants if they think these engineers will cop this deal.”

The “sweetener” came after eight months of negotiations stalled as Airbus Australia Pacific refused to budge on the pay rise despite annual inflation running at 7 per cent, Mr Callinan said.

“Offering workers an annual set of work pants is a new low when it comes to negotiating in bad faith in this industry,” he added.

“Employers issue workers with work pants because they’re required to under the Work Health and Safety Act and this mob are trying to make out it’s a win for the workers, it’s pretty pathetic.”

An Airbus spokesman said the company was “engaged in discussions with our employees in Richmond”.

“We are working with them in an effort to achieve a resolution that is positive and fair,” he said.

The union claimed Airbus had now locked the workers out of the Richmond RAAF base.

Mr Callinan said Airbus had not changed their position throughout the negotiating period, other than to offer pants.

“I have never seen a major company negotiate in such bad faith as Airbus has over the last six months, it’s been really eye opening,” he said.

“Our members are proud of their work on Australia’s fleet of C-130 Hercules and they refuse to be taken for mugs.”

Aircraft engineers at the Richmond RAAF base are outraged employer Airbus is offering them a free pair of pants if they accept a 2.5 per cent pay rise. Picture: Supplied

The C-130 Hercules military aircraft were considered the workhorse of the Australian military, and transported troops and cargo all over the world.

The dispute had erupted at a time when aircraft maintenance engineers were in short supply worldwide, along with other skilled aviation workers.

In an effort to address the shortfall, Qantas recently announced the establishment of an engineering academy to ensure a pipeline of engineers for the airline.

Due to open at a location to be confirmed in 2025, the academy would train people in aircraft maintenance, aerospace engineering and avionics.

It was expected to produce around 8500 skilled workers over the next ten years, helping to meet demand from Qantas and other airlines in the region.

Airbus this week posted a 39 per cent fall in first quarter earnings to 773 million euros, or $1.2bn.

CEO Guillaume Faury attributed the decline to an “adverse operating environment” that includes persistent tensions in the supply chain”.

Originally published as Aircraft engineers offered free pair pants to sign new pay deal with Airbus