UNION TO STRIKE OVER PAY AND CONDITIONS

SYDNEY, 14 September 2011: The Transport Workers Union has advised Qantas that up to 3,800 baggage handlers, ground staff, catering, freight and other transport employees will go on strike for four hours from 5am on Tuesday 20 September, and has also imposed bans that could affect flights for a 48-hour period.

Qantas Group Executive Olivia Wirth said the airline was assessing the impact the union-led strikes would have on airports around the country and domestic and international flights.

“Our priority is to the Australian travelling public and we are currently developing contingency plans to minimise disruptions to our customers as a result of the union’s action,” Ms Wirth said.

“The union is intentionally disrupting the travel plans of Australians. It is effectively holding passengers to ransom as it seeks pay rises and attempting to place restrictions on Qantas. In essence, it is trying to run Qantas.

“This is a coordinated campaign by three unions, with the pilots’ union, the licensed aircraft maintenance engineers’ union and the TWU all taking some form of industrial action over this period.

“While Qantas is focused on building a better airline for our customers, employees and shareholders, the unions are taking coordinated action to disrupt passengers.”

Ms Wirth said that despite several months of negotiations on a new enterprise bargaining agreement, the two parties had been unable to reach a new agreement.

“The TWU is demanding significant pay increases and new restrictions on labour flexibility which would make Qantas less competitive and prevent us from responding to volatility in the aviation industry,” she said.

“These employees are already the highest paid in the Australian aviation industry and we are willing to offer reasonable pay increases but the latest demands from the union are unreasonable.

“We encourage the TWU to continue negotiations rather than going on strike.”

The TWU claim includes:

5 per cent pay increases for every year of the agreement.
An additional one per cent compulsory employer superannuation contribution every year of the agreement.
Requirement that all casual staff are paid the same rates as permanent Qantas staff.
Requirement for site rates.

“The TWU has negotiated a new deal with Virgin which is 12 per cent lower than Qantas rates and includes a wage freeze and a lower pay scale for new starters,” Ms Wirth said.

“The union is giving Virgin a competitive advantage over Qantas by agreeing to Virgin paying its staff significantly less than Qantas, and not imposing site rates.

“The TWU also wants to renege on a deal agreed only two years ago which saw the establishment of Qantas Ground Services (QGS) on a separate pay agreement, which enables Qantas Group employees to do work that used to go to labour hire companies.”

Recent industrial action by the TWU

In March 2009 the TWU took unprotected strikes for around four hours in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth, causing considerable disruption to Qantas passengers. The Federal Court found in July this year that the TWU and senior officials had acted unlawfully and the TWU was fined and required to pay compensation.