Occupy Qantas: Joyce and the 99 per cent

First published on The Drum: 01/11/2011

Protest about corporate giants holding the nation to ransom and you’ll get hauled away by police under cover of darkness.

Be a corporate giant and actually hold the nation to ransom and you’ll get a $2 million pay rise and a pat on the back from your mates.

Only slightly less bizarre than Qantas CEO Allan Joyce’s decision to ground his fleet over the weekend, stranding thousands of innocent punters, has been the muted response by the nation’s media.

Imagine a union leader taking wildcat industrial action and grounding an airline, with no thought of the implications. The tabloids would scream “industrial thuggery” and “un-Australian bastardry”; there would be calls for deregistration of the union, possibly jail for the rogue official.

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