Union strongarm tightens grip on Virgin Australia

The TWU has warned Virgin’s owner against appointing the ­current frontrunner CEO and three major unions are backing CFMEU boss John Setka’s campaign against the AFL.

Victorian CFMEU leader John Setka’s threats to the AFL have been backed by three more unions. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

Multiple unions are pushing to block or sack high-ranking staff at two of the nation’s most prominent employers, with the Transport Workers Union warning Virgin Australia’s owner against appointing the ­current frontrunner to the airline’s chief executive job and three major unions backing CFMEU boss John Setka’s campaign to remove the AFL’s head of umpiring.

Anthony Albanese did not ­explicitly condemn Mr Setka’s latest conduct when asked if it was appropriate for the union leader to threaten the AFL, but the Prime Minister said: “I removed John Setka from the Labor Party many years ago as one of my first acts as leader”.

The dual union demands came as the AFL stared down the CFMEU and backed former union watchdog Stephen McBurney as its head of umpiring, while business groups declared the threats to projects as “union thuggery at its worst”.

Following talks in Melbourne, the Electrical Trades Union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and the plumbers union agreed to back Mr Setka’s ­demands and write to the league in coming days seeking Mr McBurney’s removal.

Peter Dutton accused Mr Setka of trying to stand over the AFL, and challenged the Prime Minister to condemn more firmly the union leader’s conduct.

“Intimidation has no place in the workplace, and yet you’ve got a union leader who gives $4.5m a year to the Labor Party through the CFMEU (threatening the AFL) ... I think all it demonstrates is how weak and inept the Prime Minister is,” the ­Opposition ­Leader said.

The standoff between the AFL and the CFMEU came as the TWU wrote to Virgin Australia’s owner Bain Capital to express concern that a frontrunner for the airline’s chief executive job was found to be one of the architects of Qantas’s unlawful outsourcing of labour.

As revealed exclusively by The Australian online on Wednesday night, Paul Jones is the last ­internal candidate in the running to replace Jayne Hrdlicka after chief financial officer Race Strauss and loyalty boss Nick Rohrlach were ruled out. A mystery overseas contender is also being considered.

Mr Jones jumped ship from Qantas to Virgin Australia in 2021 to take on the role of chief ­customer and digital officer. He was previously Qantas’s chief ­operating officer, and prior to that the executive manager of freight and airports — when the decision was taken to outsource 1683 ground-handling jobs.

The TWU brought the case against Qantas, with the Federal Court finding there was enough evidence to suggest the November 2020 decision was motivated by unlawful reasons. Much of that evidence came from handwritten annotations made by Mr Jones referring to “Labor government”, “locking in benefits” and “open EBA”, on material prepared for a group management committee meeting.

In a letter addressed to Bain Capital partner Mike Murphy, seen by The Australian, TWU ­national secretary Michael Kaine said the consideration of Mr Jones to lead Virgin was “great cause for concern”.

“Virgin Australia has a strong history of valuing workers,” Mr Kaine wrorte.

“Staff felt that the crucial role they played for the airline was ­recognised, and were loyal in ­return. This has deteriorated recently and needs to be repaired. In our view, this would not be possible with Paul Jones as CEO.”

Mr Kaine pointed out that ­Virgin’s own staff sentiment survey released last year found less than 20 per cent of pilots agreed with the statement “I rarely think about looking for a new job at another company”.

In addition only 3 per cent said they would recommend Virgin Australia to friends and relatives as a great place to work, and less than a third (32 per cent) agreed that their “feedback on safety was taken on board”.

Mr Kaine also highlighted comments made by Justice Michael Lee in his judgment in the outsourcing case, which was upheld by the Full Federal Court and High Court. These included the observation that Mr Jones was an unreliable witness and his “professed lack of recollection was ­disingenuous”. “I do not consider it is safe to place any significant reliance upon (Mr Jones’s) evidence,” Justice Lee said.

In that context, Mr Kaine said the TWU found it “alarming” such a person would be considered to run Virgin Australia.

“That this consideration is given at a time of turbulence between Virgin Australia management and staff is even more concerning,” Mr Kaine wrote.

He asked Mr Murphy to ­respond to several points ­including the criteria for chief executive and how Mr Jones met that criteria and his position on Mr Jones’ role in the Qantas outsourcing matter.

Mr Kaine also sought Mr ­Murphy’s views on how the relationship between staff and management at Virgin would be repaired and the plans for an IPO.

An announcement on a new Virgin Australia chief executive is expected in coming weeks.

Ms Hrdlicka’s transition from the role was announced on February 20 taking staff and customers by surprise.

Since then, Ms Hrdlicka has kept a relatively low profile other than to announce plans to allow small pets in the cabin from 2025.

Virgin Australia referred questions about the TWU’s letter to Bain Capital. A spokesman for Bain said the firm was yet to decide whether to respond to the TWU but did not wish to comment further.

Mr Setka stood by his threats on Wednesday, claiming Mr McBurney should not be able to work anywhere in Australia given his record as the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner and “should go to North Korea”.

He warned the AFL’s support for Mr McBurney would “cost them a fortune” and the league should not “come crying to us” when projects, including the proposed Tasmanian stadium, were delayed or ran over budget.

Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary, Luke Hilakari, said he chaired a meeting of building unions on Wednesday where the state leaders of the ETU, AMWU and plumbers union agreed to back Mr Setka’s threatened work to rule campaign unless the AFL backed down and sacked Mr McBurney.

Mr Hilakari said unions believed the ABCC had been an “abuse of power”, and people who led the organisation should know it came with “reputational risks that sometimes follow them wherever they go”.

He said the letter to the AFL would reflect Mr Setka’s concerns and if the AFL stood by Mr McBurney there was a risk to the league’s projects.

“There is a potential large risk for the AFL when they want to do large projects and projects don’t alway go to plan,” he said.

Responding to opposition claims that the CFMEU’s conduct was “tantamount to corporate extortion”, Mr Hilakari “I’m sure corporates would love our co-operation one hundred per cent of the time but co-operation is a two-way street.”