REGIONAL EXPRESS

REX

Pilot Federation

There has been an ongoing lack of progress in negotiations for both the Saab 340 and Boeing 737 enterprise agreements (EAs).

Rex Airlines Pty Ltd has been working to expand its new B737 operation and has recruited some pilots under common law contracts (incorporating provisions of the Air Pilots Award 2020).

To recap, in late 2020 Rex Airlines issued a Notice of Employee Representational Rights (NERR) to commence bargaining for a new EA, without notifying the AFAP.

When the AFAP subsequently became aware that the NERR had been issued, the company was notified that, as we had members employed at Rex Airlines, the AFAP was a bargaining representative in the negotiations.

Regardless, Rex subsequently excluded the AFAP from bargaining meetings, until the AFAP successfully sought intervention from the Fair Work Commission (FWC).

Throughout last year and early-2022, the AFAP has consistently raised an extensive list of questions about the content of draft EAs prepared by Rex, at the same time arguing with the company to secure items in the AFAP’s Log of Claims, which were endorsed by an overwhelming majority of B737 members.

Further meetings with members have been scheduled in early-July to discuss the company's latest offer, which was communicated just prior to the last bargaining meeting held on 23 June.

That latest offer represents the first significant move from the company since negotiations commenced, with much of Rex’s original proposal representing little if any improvement over the corresponding Award provisions.

However, even with this latest offer, a considerable proportion of the pilot group’s claims remain unaddressed, and what is on offer falls well below the standards at other Australian domestic airlines.

Despite various requests since early 2021, Rex has remained unwilling to make any firm arrangements for progression of Saab pilots to the B737 fleet, beyond advertising throughout the Rex group for "expressions of interest” for B737 first officers.

At this point, a very small number of Saab pilots have been offered positions in the B737 operation. In relation to the Saab negotiations, Rex Express Holding Ltd’s Saab pilots have been attempting to negotiate a new EA since early-2018 (ahead of the 30 June 2018 nominal expiry date of the Regional Express Pilots' Enterprise Agreement 2014).

Unfortunately, negotiations, which were initially disrupted by the Covid pandemic, have been effectively stalled since early 2021 when the company commenced what would become a series of ever-worsening low-ball pay offers.

All offers made by the company since that time have incorporated proposed salary increases considerably less than the cost-of-living increases since the expiry of the last agreement, and therefore represent a substantial decrease in the real value of a Rex pilot’s remuneration package.

For example, the offer received from the company late on Friday 3 June 2022 was even worse than previous offers and represented a cut in salary compared to CPI of more than 5% since 2018.

As a result, the Rex Council was left with little option than to exercise their members’ lawful right to lodge an application for a Protected Industrial Action (PIA) ballot with the FWC.

In that ballot, more than 90% per cent of the AFAP’s Rex Saab pilot members voted to approve the taking of eight (8) legally protected industrial actions, including a number of work bans and, potentially, unlimited four hour work stoppages.

With 90% membership density among this pilot group at Rex, and the overwhelming support displayed in the ballot results for every form of PIA put to the pilots, it is clear that the pilot group is united in its resolve.

Regional Express run a fleet of 60 Saab 340 and six Boeing 737 aircraft.