National airport strike called off
Firefighters at 27 airports across Australia have called off a strike that threatened to halt all domestic and international passenger flights for several hours next week.
On Friday afternoon, Airservices Australia announced it had reached a 12-month company-in-principle agreement with the United Firefighters Union Aviation arm and that the union would now withdraw a proposed protected industry action that had been planned for next Friday.
Earlier this week, the union had announced firefighters planned to stop work at 27 airports in every state and territory, including Sydney, Melbourne and all capital airports, by Friday 9 December between 6am-10am.
At the time, the union said it was protesting against security concerns arising from low staffing levels, after months of negotiations on a new company deal. Unions have cited these safety concerns, and demands for a minimum staffing level clause.
But in an Airservices Australia statement released on Friday afternoon, only the new payment details of the in-principle deal were mentioned. Workers will receive a 4.9% pay increase, the statement said.
Airservices Australia CEO, Jason Harfield, said:
“Airservices is pleased to have reached this agreement in principle with UFUAV, which concludes its proposed industrial action next week. This new agreement provides certainty for our ARFF workforce, airlines and the traveling public. We applaud all those involved in reaching this new agreement."
Guardian Australia reached out to the United Firefighters Union Aviation branch for comment.
xperts tips another rate hike before the end of 2022
The AAP reports that the Governor of the Reserve Bank has left his options open ahead of a rate decision later this year, with experts leaning towards another rate hike for December.
Speaking on a panel of central bank governors on Friday, Philip Lowe said it was likely to do a soft landing for the economy.
"But it will be very easy to stop it, and our priority is to return inflation to target over the next few years," he said at the Bank of Thailand and Bank for International Settlements conference.
But Dr Lowe also doubled down on the lagging effect of rising interest rates.
It's entirely possible the lag this time around will be longer, partly because of all the savings people have made in recent years.
The RBA governor also reviewed his thinking on long-term inflation patterns, arguing that the world is likely to go through an era of consistently low inflation.
Thanks to emerging supply-side challenges including deglobalization and climate change, he expects inflation to rise and fall more dramatically.
For Dr Lowe, a spike in interest rates can be described as the first test of a new economic landscape marked by fluctuations in inflation.
We really want people to believe and understand that when inflation moves away from the target... it will come back.
“If people don't believe it, then the inflation deviation from the target will be more persistent, and it will be more difficult to return it.
Dr Lowe's words set the scene for an interest rate decision later this year on Tuesday.
Many economists and pundits are suggesting another 25 basis point increase for December. This article was written by EDUKASI CAMPUS.