Is Boeing creating a defence risk?

Date: 04 September 2005

Boeing's refusal to negotiate with its trained engineers whose job is to maintain Australia's FA18 Hornet fighter jets risks seriously compromising Australia's defence readiness, the Australian Workers' Union warns

AWU National Secretary Bill Shorten said the skilled technicians - who have been locked in an industrial dispute with Boeing for 93 days because of the company's refusal to negotiate a collective agreement - had received troubling information.

"Our members have been told that aircraft A21-109, a dual-seat FA18 Hornet fighter which is used for pilot training, has been damaged beyond short-term reasonable repair," Mr Shorten said.

"We understand that the damage occurred as a result of work carried out on it by strike-breaking and inexperienced on-type maintenance personnel," he said.

"The permanent aircraft maintenance workforce employed by Boeing at RAAF Williamtown on their Hornet upgrade contract have been trained extensively by expert technicians from Canada on all aspects of the FA18 Hornet upgrade.

"This training lasted for six months in 2004 for the current upgrade modifications.

"During the current dispute now in its 14th week, Boeing has supplemented its permanent skilled trained workforce with labour hire employees, F-111 trained technicians and some new employees, all of whom have not received the intensive training required to do these modifications.

"Consequently, we have received reports that aircraft A21-109 has sustained severe structural damage that will render it unserviceable for up to 12 months."

Mr Shorten said the removal of A21-109, one of about 18 dual-seater FA18s used for training, would throw the RAAF's training into disarray, and could end up costing the Australian taxpayer millions of dollars.

"It's way past time for the RAAF and the Howard Government to concede that Boeing's stubbornness is damaging our defence capability and to put pressure on the company to come to the negotiating table," Mr Shorten said.

"All these workers are after is the right to choose a collective agreement in their workplace - surely the Government doesn't care more about denying these workers that right than they do about ensuring we are capable of protecting ourselves?"

For further information

Contact:	Ainslie Gowan
Union:	The Australian Workers' Union National Office
Phone:	03 8327 0882
Fax:	03 8327 0899
Email:	ainslie.gowan@awu.net.au

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