Doubt over Tassie Qantas jobs

HOBART Qantas workers face a six-month wait to learn the fate of their jobs

Tasmanian Qantas workers face an uncertain six months as they await the outcome of a revi

HOBART  Qantas workers face a six-month wait to learn the fate of their jobs.

A union representative said a meeting with the airline last week failed to provide any certainty about the future for 300 staff at the Hobart call centre.

The jobs are being reviewed as part of a plan to cut 5000 positions across the nation.

Australian Services Union state branch secretary Igor Grattan said the airline was ­refusing to rule out cuts at the Hobart centre.

“It’s fair to say that people’s jobs are under a cloud for up to six months,” Mr Grattan said.

“People are just in limbo until they decide to tell everyone what they’re doing.”

He said the uncertainty was taking a toll on staff.

“People are very worried about the situation,” he said.

“Their lives are put on hold while they find out if they’ve got a job or not.

“It’s an incredibly stressful time for them.

“[Qantas representatives] said that they’d renewed the lease on Melbourne and Hobart sites – I don’t know if that’s a positive sign or not.”

At least 10 staff in Hobart were believed to have been ­offered redundancies in a letter that was received about a fortnight ago.

Mr Grattan said it was ­unclear if any staff had ­accepted the offer.

He said he expected to hold regular meetings with the airline in coming months.

“All we can say is that we’re pushing to get answers as quick as we can,” he said,

“We just need to keep the pressure on Qantas to get them to become open and transparent about what their plans are.

“It’s really a waiting game at the moment, unfortunately.”

Qantas staff rallied in Sydney yesterday, raising concerns about job security and the airline’s future.

Union groups around the country have previously raised concerns that up to 10,000 jobs could be lost in the airline’s ­restructure.

Qantas boss Alan Joyce had also said he wanted no set limit on how many jobs could go offshore to keep the airline competitive with rival Virgin.