Air Safety at Risk From New IR Laws

Lives could be at risk in the air if the Howard Government presses ahead with its plan to deny unfair dismissal rights to workers in businesses with less than 100 employees, according to the Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association.

ALAEA industrial manager Chris Ryan says the laws will increase pressure on engineers to okay aircraft that do not meet safety standards.

"Most aircraft operators employ less than 100 staff, so under the new laws, it will be easy to fire an engineer that stands up over safety," Mr Ryan said.

Mr Ryan said engineers were already under pressure to comply with carriers, but removing unfair dismissal provisions would make it worse.

He was already aware of cases when engineers were stood down because they would not approve unsafe aircraft. Engineers that get a reputation in the industry for grounding aircraft became unemployable, adding to the pressure to comply.

"They end up on the outer," Mr Ryan said.

"The ALAEA calls on the Government to give protection to licenced engineers or scrap its plan to deny unfair dismissal."

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