Regional Express Holdings (Rex) Saab pilots who are members of the Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP) voted for protected industrial action.
True Vote conducted the ballot and reported that 230 pilots voted before the ballot closed at midday on Wednesday, June 22.
Over 93 per cent of the pilots who took part in the ballot voted in favour of all eight protected industrial actions.
The AFAP notified Rex that pilots will begin taking protected industrial action on the wearing of uniforms and on loading extra fuel before flights, so they don’t need to refuel at the destination airport.
The action will commence one minute past midnight on Wednesday, June 29.
The intended protected industrial action is being taken by all AFAP members who will be covered by the proposed Saab pilots’ enterprise agreement and who are employed by Rex at all the ports and bases in the Rex network.
Pilots can take these actions without fear of legal or disciplinary action.
Pilots also voted in favour of other bans.
These include four-hour work stoppages, route and port briefings outside duty times, signing on with less than 10 hours of free duty when away from home or less than 12 hours of free duty when at their home base, and a ban on operating an aircraft with a deferred defect.
An AFAP spokesperson stated that Rex pilots have been attempting to negotiate a new Enterprise Agreement since early 2018.
The offer from Rex on June 3 was even worse than previous offers.
The latest offer represents a cut in real-term salary of more than 5 per cent since 2018.
It does not contain back pay and does not cover the current price index over the previous four years.
The Rex spokesperson said the union and Rex are aligned in their desire not to have the travelling public impacted by these actions, especially during the school holidays when airports expect delays.
“Our passengers may see minor changes to the service delivery, for example, the uniform worn may not be the standard one,” said the Rex spokesperson.
Rex prides itself on being Australia’s most reliable airline and will have mitigating measures in place to ensure their services operate normally and do not disrupt travellers explained the Rex spokesperson.
The latest Federal Government figures in the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics figures for May demonstrated Rex’s reliability.
Rex had the lowest flight cancellation rate (1.4 per cent) compared to other airlines, with flight cancellation figures as high as 7.6 per cent, according to the Rex spokesperson.
The AFAP spokesperson also said they are pleased to see that Rex will soon return to pre-COVID flying levels.
