Engineers union not surprised

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Engineers union not surprised

The aircraft engineers union says it is not surprised that Qantas has taken the extreme action of grounding its fleet and locking out workers.

The Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association is one of three unions involved in disputes with the airline over pay and conditions.

A short time ago Qantas announced it was grounding its entire fleet immediately, and would lock out staff involved in the dispute from Monday evening.

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Engineer's Federal Secretary Steve Purvinas says he thinks this is an extreme measure given that the aircraft engineers have cancelled their industrial action for the next three weeks.

"I think this is an extreme measure for the CEO and airline to take, given we've cancelled our industrial action for the next three weeks," federal secretary Steve Purvinas told AAP.

But he said the action didn't surprise him.

Liberal backbencher Jamie Briggs, who is campaigning within the Liberal Party to embrace a new workplace policy, said it showed the failure of Labor's Fair Work laws.

"Don't forget that the 'fair work' laws are operating as intended," he said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Australian Greens adviser Tim Hollo used Twitter to say he had been taken off a Qantas flight and "told to leave".

"We've all been told to go home," he said this evening.

AAP

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