In another win for AMWU members at CHC Helicopters, aircraft engineers at the company have won a new union collective agreement.
The agreement follows a win earlier this year by the CHC air crew, who also joined the AMWU and successfully bargained for a union collective agreement.
The aircraft engineers won significant increases to wages and allowances, as well as benefits for apprentices, entitlement protection, an improved grading structure for offshore workers, and a volunteer allowance for accommodation.
After an initial company offer that only amounted to wage increases in line with CPI over three years, workers will now benefit from significant increases ranging between 15 – 21.7%.
AMWU National Industrial Officer, Darren Hanisch, said it was good to get two wins on the board at CHC.
“We had previously reached a good outcome for the CHC air crew, and now we’re following through with a similarly good deal for CHC engineers”, he said.
AMWU delegate Robert Bassett, says members are pleased with the outcome.
“We went through a protracted period of negotiation, so everyone’s just relieved and the vast majority of workers are really happy with the outcome.
“Because the negotiations went on for so long, and we weren’t satisfied with the company’s initial offer, we did end up taking protected action earlier on in the year – stop-works and overtime bans. It was quite difficult because half the company is involved with Search and Rescue, so we were limited in what action we could take there, but in the end the company came back to the table.
“The support we got from the AMWU was really helpful, especially in helping us out with knowing what we can and can’t do in regards to industrial action if it comes down to that. Having that central point of contact was great as well”, he said.
A major outcome for the CHC engineers was the restructure to the offshore grading system.
“Apart from the pay rise, probably the main benefit from this agreement is the restructure of the offshore grading structure so it’s now more competitive with other companies, especially our main rivals.
“Apprentices also did quite well. The agreement includes more clarity on their payments and coverage, which was needed”, said Robert.
Delegate Len Bongiorno said members were already looking forward to the next round of negotiations to build on the improvements won in the new agreement.
“The next round of negotiations are only 18 months away, and what we hope to achieve are improvements to conditions like for on-call work,fatigue management plans incorporated into our awards so people aren’t expected to work 17-18 hours, and just general safety conditions and work hours”, said.
“The union, and Darren [Hanisch], put in a lot of effort. Everybody involved with the negotiations did a good job, and worked very hard to get something off the ground.
“We’re definitely better off. We went through a period where we didn’t have anyone representing us – if we didn’t have the union, it wouldn’t be as good, that’s for sure”