Qantas quits the skies in strike action

Qantas boss says boo to union boss

The Australian airline Qantas is in a bit of a quandary. Not only has it a strike on its hands but it is yet another company that sees Australia as too expensive for its own good. Just as the Queen is leaving the country, Qantas is dealing with unhappy employees who see their jobs being "restructured" somewhere in Asia. One of the reasons given by Australian republicans for an end to the monarchy is that Australia is now an "Asian country". Seems the chief executive of Qantas, Alan Joyce, has taken this literally and decided that "Asiafication" is just what he needs right now. The unions disagree and are up in arms.

The trouble is that Qantas is seen as Aussie as Bondi Beach, Fosters (not any more!), Vegemite (now American owned) and possibly Rolf Harris. Even people outside Australia know Qantas is Australian. But in the global trading world that Mr Joyce seeks to inhabit, being a simple cork-dangling floppy-hatted patriot is of no consequence. He's seen the average Asian worker and seen that the worker works longer for less. Stuff patriotism! So if Qantas quits Australia and sets up on the shores of Shanghai, so be it.

So what does Mr. Joyce do in pursuit of Asiafication? Shut the whole airline down and tell worried passengers, via Facebook of all places, that they can forget flying for a while. Industrial action has begun Aussie style. I doubt whether this will be the last of its kind. The Queen was alluding to change in the country, through speeches written by the simpering Julia Gillard, but not even the curtsy/bowing/fawning prime minister could tell it as it really is.

Australia is selling its businesses and its jobs and its country to the highest bidder from Asia. Maybe nothing wrong in that, but surely Australians have a right to know. In a clumsy sort of way. Mr Joyce is doing that quite nicely.

Posted in: airlines,Asia,Australia,global economy,Qantas