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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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090489
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09048900.026
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1990-09-22
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WORLD, Page 23World NotesAUSTRALIAGrounded Down Under
Passengers were issued earplugs instead of headsets, and sat
in webbed slings instead of contour seats. The planes were noisy,
lumbering Hercules transports designed to fly the unfriendly skies
of enemy nations. But civilian passengers lucky enough to be
winging it aboard military planes of the Royal Australian Air Force
last week were hardly complaining. Australia's airline industry has
been thrown into chaos by the resignation of all 1,640 pilots from
the nation's three major domestic airlines. The walkout has
threatened the booming tourist industry and grounded most flights
in a country where some 250,000 people fly weekly.
The turbulence began when the pilots, who earn an average of
$60,000 a year, asked for a 30% pay raise and direct negotiations
with the domestic carriers, instead of the 6% set by an independent
wage-fixing authority. The request was rejected by the airlines and
the government, which supports the wage-fixing system as a curb
against inflation. The government fears that any exception granted
to pilots will set off a chain reaction among labor groups. If that
happened, said Prime Minister Bob Hawke, "the economy would be
buggered." Determined to stand his ground, Hawke has called in the
air force. So far, however, the pilots have shown no inclination
to settle for more down-to-earth wages.