TWU takes protest over Qantas outsourcing to Alan Joyce’s door

Angry union members have taken their protest against outsourcing by Qantas to the Sydney home of Alan Joyce.

TWU members take their protest against the outsourcing of ground handling jobs at Qantas to the door of Alan Joyce’s Sydney home. Picture: Twitter, TWU Australia

The Transport Workers Union has taken its protest over the outsourcing of 2420 jobs at Qantas to the Sydney home of CEO Alan Joyce.

In an extraordinary move, dozens of TWU members waving placards were met by the doorman at the apartment block at The Rocks where Mr Joyce lives with his husband Shane Lloyd.

A letter demanding Mr Joyce reverse the decision to outsource groundhandling operations was handed to the doorman, and leaflets distributed to passers-by.

TWU secretary Michael Kaine said workers were “frustrated” and wanted to share their feelings with Mr Joyce.

“They want to tell him they stood by the company when the airline was in trouble in 2014, taking a hit with an 18-month wage freeze which continues to impact their pay and super,” said Mr Kaine.

“They want him to know that they are utterly devastated that he wants to replace them at a time of crisis and high unemployment.”

A Qantas spokesman said they would “leave it to others to decide if it was appropriate to stage a rally outside someone’s home because of something happening at work”.

“The TWU wants to ignore what COVID has done to aviation and instead blame

Qantas for doing what it takes to make sure the national carrier survives,” the spokesman said.

Referring to the opportunity for the TWU to make its own bid for the groundhandling contract, the spokesman said: “We’d prefer the TWU focused on the in-house bid, which is about keeping this work, rather than spending time on protests.”

In accordance with their employment agreement, Qantas baggage handlers, ramp workers, tug and bus drivers and cleaners can prepare their own bid for contracts at 11 airports Australia-wide.

Those employed at Jetstar do not have that option.

Despite the in-house bid, Mr Kaine was not confident workers could come up with a proposal to compete with multinational organisations like Swissport, Menzies and dnata.

“Some of these workers have loyally worked at Qantas for over 30 years; some have mothers, brothers, fathers, sisters, uncles who have also worked at Qantas; some are worried they may never work again given the crisis,” he said.

“To be cast aside and discarded by a spiteful management is wrong and not the spirit of Australia.”

Qantas announced the decision to outsource the ground-handling operations last month, saying the airline could reduce its costs for the work by as much as 40 per cent.

The carrier already uses other companies to do the work at 55 airports around the country, and has rejected any suggestion outsourcing the roles could compromise safety.

The 2420 job losses are on top of 6000 positions already identified as surplus to needs in the airline as a result of the COVID crisis, which is expected to cost Qantas and Jetstar $10bn in revenue this financial year.