Melbourne braced for Qantas strike

Melbourne braced for Qantas strike	30.05.2008
QANTAS engineers in Melbourne will walk off the job at 8am today, disrupting the airline`s flights in rolling industrial action over a pay dispute. Qantas is refusing to budge on a pay offer to its engineers, despite continuing industrial action and a warning from unions that the fight could get "nasty". At least four flights at Sydney airport were cancelled yesterday and others were delayed when about 170 engineers walked off the job for four hours. Similar industrial action was held in Brisbane last night and will begin in Melbourne this morning. The engineers are protesting against the Qantas offer of a three per cent wage rise, calling instead for five per cent. ACTU president Sharan Burrow said the airline was expecting a profit of $1.5 billion and could afford the wage increase, saying its fears over fuel costs affecting future profit were unfounded. Ms Burrow also said negotiations had failed because Qantas management did not not recognise unions` collective bargaining powers after the recent change of government. Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon said the airline was on track to achieve the expected profit, but skyrocketing fuel prices would cost an extra $2 billion in the next financial year and the airline had $35 billion worth of aircraft on order. The five per cent wage increase would add $360 million to the cost base over three years, which the airline could not afford, he said. "We are not going to give these people (unions) what they want because it would be very damaging for the long-term future of the company," he said. Mr Dixon said highly trained senior management from around Australia had replaced the engineers in Sydney, but he denied they were strike-breakers. Share this article Digg this Post to del.icio.us Post to Newsvine Post to Facebook Add to kwoff
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States on bushfire alert as temperatures rise
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FIREFIGHTERS across Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia will be on red alert today as soaring temperatures fuel the threat of bushfires in the three states.

Total fire bans are in force in western and central Victoria, as well as southwestern New South Wales.

In South Australia, patrols are being dispatched to homes of convicted arsonists and firebugs to monitor their whereabouts.

Police will monitor at least 27 known pyromaniacs as the state faces the most extreme day of fire danger seen for years.

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Firebugs have been identified by multi-agency taskforce Operation Nomad, which targets deliberately lit fires.

An extra 24 police patrols will also be roving through the Adelaide Hills and other areas of fire danger to monitor any fire activity.

Record temperatures

Adelaide yesterday sweltered through its record-breaking 10th consecutive day of above 35C temperatures, with the mercury peaking at 39.2C at 2.36pm.

With the temperatures forecast for 40C today, combined with expected strong north to north-westerly winds of up to 50km/h and the dry conditions, emergency services are on red alert state-wide.

Chief Superintendent Trevor Johnson, officer in charge of Nomad, said police would be vigilant.

"There are some people in society that consistently go about the areas where there is risk in setting fires. It`s into those places that we put these extra patrols so they can be vigilant and survey the first thing they see," he said.

Public warned

Country Fire Service deputy state co-ordinator Tim Davis warned the public to be fire ready, saying if a fire spread, it would be almost impossible to control. "The vegetation is ready to burn and a fire can be started easily by things like vehicles, cigarettes and work equipment," he said.

"These next two days will be the most difficult days for the CFS (and) if we haven`t controlled the fire within the first 30 minutes it`s going to be difficult to control."

Rain helped firefighters battle scrub fires near Williamstown, believed to have been sparked by lightning at about 3.30pm yesterday. It took 180 firefighters about five hours to tackle the blaze at Warren Reservoir, between Gordon Rd and Warren Rd, which burned about 35ha.

Earlier, a boy escaped without injury shortly before fire destroyed a house and a car parked in the driveway at Kensington Gardens. The boy was alone inside the Sandford St house when the blaze began at about 4.15pm.

It caused more than $250,000 in damage. The night before, houses were engulfed at Alberton and Henley Beach by fires sparked by overloaded airconditioners.

Power cuts hit several city and country areas yesterday but ETSA Utilities general manager (services) Sue Filby said the system functioned well.

"So far we have had (fewer blackouts) than we might have expected."

- With The Advertiser and AAP

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Today`s Top Picks

Heatwaves trigger red alert

KNOWN pyromaniacs are today under police watch as soaring temperatures threaten firestorms across three states and put firefighters on red alert.

Search for more stories on this topic on Newstext, our news archive service. Click here

Video

Newton`s Playground

Watch this Video NOW!

Newton`s Playground

Mt Panorama held its first extreme sports gravity fuelled festival with a concert headlined by Grinspoon.

Latest videos

Advertisement

Love & Relationships - Find a date near you on Match.com - # 1 Online Dating site Worldwide.

What`s On in New Zealand. To find out What`s On this autumn visit www.newzealand.com

Virgin Mobile Cheap calls & text across Australia.

TIC TAC Taste of Music WIN the ultimate music experience 12 double passes to 12 concerts.

Get a higher return Earn a high 7.88% p.a.^ on a 3 month Term Deposit with HSBCPremier.

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Heatwaves trigger red alert 03/13/2008


	08. 2008

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