Labour hire crushes flight attendant’s dream job

Sarah de Wilt was thrilled at her career switch until she saw her pay.

Flight attendant Sarah de Wilt was shocked to find she was being paid half that of her cabin crew colleagues. Picture: Jane Dempster

When Sarah de Wilt successfully changed careers from teaching to aviation, she was thrilled to tell her family and friends she had landed a job as a long-haul flight attendant.

But her mood changed four months into her new position when she discovered she was being employed by a labour-hire company and paid much less than her colleagues doing the same job.

“It was to all intents and purposes a job with the airline. Everything is the same. Our role is the same. Our training was the same. Responsibilities were the same. Uniform was the same. Same logo on the pay slip,” the 42-year old said.

“I was confused. It was a bit ­demoralising. It changed morale because you know you are doing exactly the same thing as somebody next to you, less than a metre away, that’s paid double. It doesn’t breed teamwork. I also felt blindsided and a bit confused because it’s not illegal.”

Ms de Wilt, a delegate with the Flight Attendants Association of Australia, is unable to speak to the media directly about her employer but can talk about her work as a long-haul cabin crew member.

“I told all my friends and family that I had made it, I’d been ­selected to this very, very prestigious household name company. I was truly truly happy and I then I realised I worked for a kind of a loophole company,” she said.

Under the terms of her employment, she does not get paid penalty rates on public holidays, including Christmas Day

“The average person says on Christmas Day that at least you’re getting double time-and-a-half. They have no idea we don’t get penalty rates on the day,” she said.

Backing the introduction of the same-job same-pay labour hire changes, unions say it is common to see multiple different rates of pay apply to different Qantas cabin crew on the same flight.

FAAA federal secretary Teri O’Toole said Ms de Wilt’s work group was initially paid $21.46 an hour while her directly employed colleagues doing the same work received $44.84 an hour when the work group was created in 2008.

“A fast-food worker gets paid $55.64 under the award for working on a public holiday but a cabin crew member gets no penalty rates,” she said.

“These are safety professionals. They don’t just serve tea and coffee. They are there to ­arrest someone who is trying to disrupt the aircraft or to fight someone trying to get into the flight deck. They are there to give mouth to mouth and CPR and all other medical assistance. They have to run towards the fire if there is a fire on an aircraft.

“They have to get everyone off in 90 seconds and save their lives. The requirements for the safety professional job as aviation first responders are significant. They are tested twice a year. It is really intense training that you would not have if you were a fast-food worker yet they earn more money. It’s appalling how the airlines have managed to diminish the role of cabin crew in Australia.”