Qantas recalls flight attendant contracts after back room bungle
More than 2000 Qantas flight attendants thought they had received a six-fold pay rise before their new contracts were quickly recalled.
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A back room bungle left more than 2000 Qantas long haul flight attendants thinking they had received a six-fold pay rise before their new contracts were quickly recalled.
The Qantas snafu came on a day of rejoicing for more than 750 short haul flight attendants who received pay rises of up to $20,000 under new Same Job Same Pay laws.
Flight Attendants’ Association of Australia secretary Teri O’Toole said the deal put the crew working for Qantas through labour hire firms on the same money as their full-time colleagues.
“This is life changing for those crew, many of whom have been working two or three jobs and unable to take leave in order to make ends meet.”
She said the pay rise worth up to 47 per cent for some crew ended years of disparity and was negotiated with Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson.
“This would have never been possible under her predecessor Alan Joyce, he would have fought us all the way through the courts,” she said.
The short haul attendants deal comes after a new enterprise agreement was struck with more than 2000 long haul flight attendants last year to receive a similar pay rise. This will include crew flying the new A350-1000 long haul Project Sunrise flights direct from the east coast of Australia to Europe and New York.
The new contracts for those crew members were sent out on Monday night with their annual salary noted in the pay box for each of their eight week rosters — giving them a six-fold pay increase. The error was spotted after a few hundred contracts went out and they were recalled.
“We sincerely apologise to our crew for the error and will issue new contracts in the coming days that accurately reflect their terms of enterprise agreement,” a Qantas spokesman said.
Despite the error Qantas crew still had plenty of reasons to celebrate with the airline stating the “cost impact” of the salary changes would hit its bottom line to the tune of $65 million.
Employment Minister Murray Watt said the pay rises stemmed from the Same Job Same Pay laws which closed the loophole that allowed labour hire workers to be paid significantly less than the direct employees doing exactly the same job.
“These are workers who wear the same uniform, do the same work, work the same rosters but have been paid significantly less than their colleagues,“ Mr Watt said.
“They do the same job and they deserve the same pay.”
A Qantas spokesman said the pay deal was an important step in supporting cabin crew into the future.
“Our cabin crew deliver fantastic service to our customers and we’re committed to meeting the requirements of the legislation while ensuring that our business is sustainable for the long term,” he said.
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Originally published as Qantas recalls flight attendant contracts after back room bungle
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