Qantas workers threaten strike, Chalice Mining breakthrough at Julimar and Incitec appoints CFO for fertiliser business
Qantas workers are preparing to go on strike next week after pay rise talks with the trade union broke down.
Australia’s largest domestic and international airline Qantas (ASX: QAN) is facing troubled times ahead as 1,000 of its staff prepare to potentially go on strike in the midst of failed negotiations over a 12% pay rise.
Engineers from Qantas, Jetstar and Network Aviation are set to vote on strike action next week, with two options to vote on: overtime bans and 12-hour stoppages.
The pending strike comes after Qantas’ bargaining talks with trade union Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers’ Association (ALAEA) broke down.
ALAEA federal secretary Steve Purvinas said some members haven’t received a pay rise in four years despite enduring the stressful times brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There have been years of meetings and no progress,” he said.
One Qantas spokesperson said it was disappointing it had come to this as Qantas was “negotiating in good faith on the agreements”.
“Negotiations for Jetstar and Network Aviation’s engineers’ agreements recommenced in May, so it is completely unreasonable to take this step given we’re still early in the process,” the spokesperson said.
The strike comes after Qantas attempted to “bribe” its workers, as the union saw it, with a one-off boost payment of $5,000 and the promise of 1,000 shares in August 2023.
“A one-off $5,000 payment will not fix the problems created by the current management team,” Mr Purvinas said.
The concerning news comes as the airline continues to endure challenging times recovering from the pandemic with lost luggage and one in 10 flights cancelled in May being just some of the issues the airline is facing.
Chalice Mining
Chalice Mining (ASX: CHN) has intersected a new nickel-copper-platinum group element (PGE) sulphide zone through initial drilling at its Julimar project in Western Australia.
With assays for the new holes expected within six weeks, the company said the initial diamond drill testing revealed promising early results.
The specialist explorer and developer reported one of the three drill holes, HD013, intersected a 4.2-metre wide zone of heavily disseminated to matrix sulphides.
On top of this, downhole electromagnetic (DHEM) survey work on HD009 and HD010 showed the presence of off-hole conductors in both holes, correlating with the heavily disseminated/matrix zone intersected in HD013.
Chalice Mining said the result is exciting and a significant breakthrough for the company.
“This is the first significant indication of orthomagmatic sulphide mineralisation outside of the Gonneville deposit itself and is considered an exciting result which demonstrates the highly prospective nature of the Julimar complex for additional nickel-copper-PGE discoveries,” it said.
Link Administration
Link Administration Holdings (ASX: LNK) has announced Australian legal, property and financial professionals Dye and Durham has made a second revised proposal in an attempt to acquire the company.
The revised offer the second time around is up to $4.70 per Link share.
Of the $4.70 share price, the make-up consists of $4.57 per share in base consideration and up to $0.13 per share for the proceeds from the sale of Link’s banking and credit management business.
This offer trumps the previous offer made by Dye and Durham which was $4.30 per Link share.
Dye and Durham are optimistic the second revised proposal will be accepted.
Incitec Pivot
Following on from reporting record profits resulting in Incitec Pivot (ASX: IPL) splitting its explosives and fertiliser businesses, the company has announced Chris Opperman as chief financial officer of the fertiliser business.
Mr Opperman has a wealth of experience with over 20 years in finance, accounting and investor relations.
He will lead Incitec Pivot Fertilisers prior to the upcoming shareholder vote on the proposed structural separation, expected to be in the first half of 2023.
Incitec Pivot Fertilisers chairman designate Michael Carroll said Mr Opperman’s appointment is the perfect fit for both parties.
“Chris’ deep financial and broad business experience, combined with his commercial acumen and knowledge of the fertiliser business, make him an excellent fit as CFO for Incitec Pivot Fertilisers,” he said.
“Chris has been with Incitec Pivot for 12 years, working across key leadership positions in the finance team. His experience will be invaluable as the proposal to create a standalone Fertilisers business progresses.”
Incitec remains on the search for more key leadership positions with the new Fertilisers business, provided the proposed structural separation proceeds.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank
Australia’s Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (ASX: BEN) has inked a deal to acquire Australia and New Zealand Banking Group’s (ASX: ANZ) investment lending portfolio, allowing the company to further grow its margin lending business, Leveraged Equities.
ANZ’s portfolio is estimated to be valued at $715 million, with 11,900 customer facilities.
The deal will lift Bendigo’s margin lending portfolio to over $2 billion.
Bendigo said it expects the deal to go through in the first half of next year.
Bendigo managing director and chief executive officer Marnie Baker said the acquisition aims to boost Leveraged Equities’ position, making it an industry leader in margin lending.
“We believe there is a strong future for margin lending in Australia, and this acquisition will create further opportunities for growth,” she said.