Transport Worker Union stoppage to impact Qantas Freight mail and express handling terminals
By <a href="mailto:agamelopata@acpmagazines.com.au“>Anna Game-Lopata | September 29, 2011
Qantas Freight today warned the one-hour national strike planned by the Transport Workers Union (TWU) will apply to freight terminal operations.
The stoppage between 0800-0900 local time in each state this Friday 30 September will impact mail and express handling services as well as airport
operations and catering in Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
“We have contingency plans in place to ensure this short disruption will not impact our ability to service our customers,” says Qantas Freight Head of Operations Bob Lugton.
Qantas today apologised to almost 8,500 domestic and international passengers who will have their travel plans disrupted due to the strike on one of the busiest days for air travel for the year.
“Qantas has been forced to delay 39 flights by up to an hour and cancel another two flights on the eve of the AFL and NRL Grand Finals and during school holidays as a result of strikes by the TWU and the Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA),” the company says in a statement
While the TWU will go on strike for one hour at 8am around Australia, the engineers’ union will stop work for one hour at 6pm in Melbourne.
Qantas Group Executive Olivia Wirth says despite negotiations being underway on a new enterprise bargaining agreement for months, Qantas had been unable to reach an agreement with either union.
“The TWU is asking for 15 per cent pay increase over the next three years which is just not sustainable in the current economic climate and when these employees are already the highest paid in the Australian aviation industry,” she says.
“We value our staff, we are a generous employer and we are willing to negotiate reasonable pay increases.
“The TWU is also trying to place restrictions on Qantas which would remove our flexibility to scale up or scale down our workforce in line with busy and quiet periods.
“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. This gives Virgin a competitive advantage over Qantas.”
Meanwhile the TWU says 95 per cent of its members voted in favor of the stoppage, in accordance with protected industrial ballots.
“TWU members are angered by Qantas’ continued refusal to come to the negotiating table with any real offers,” says TWU National Secretary Tony Sheldon.
“To date, Qantas has not engaged meaningfully on any issue. They have even attacked the union’s request for minor amounts of leave for blood donors.
“TWU members have ensured that Qantas is profitable, safe and able to grow.
“The thanks they get is a management that awards itself pay increases up to 71 per cent and wants to relocate essential services to destinations that have few, if any, of the safeguards that have kept Qantas flying with its tremendous safety record intact.”
Sheldon says the one hour stoppage is to provide members with an update on negotiations and determine future strategy.
“Regrettably this future strategy may recommend further action to mitigate against what now looks like a deliberate war of attrition by Qantas management,” he says.
“It was open to members to take longer industrial action this week, but they want to keep Qantas passengers flying with minimal disruption this week given the school holiday period and football finals this weekend.”