Qantas cabin crew win pay rises of up to $20,000

The agreement means short-haul cabin crew employed by three labour hire companies will be paid the same as directly employed crew.

More than 750 Qantas flight attendants employed via labour hire companies will receive pay rises of up to $20,000. Picture: Getty Images

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More than 750 Qantas flight attendants employed via labour hire companies will receive pay rises of up to $20,000 after their union capitalised on Labor’s “same job, same pay laws” to secure the wage increases.

The agreement between the Flight Attendants’ Association of Australia and Qantas will see short-haul cabin crew employed by three labour hire companies – Qantas Domestic, Maurice Alexander Management (MAM), and Altara – paid the same as directly employed crew.

The pay rises will vary according to the experience and role of the cabin crew, ranging from several thousand dollars to $20,000 per annum.

According to the FAAA, the lift in hourly pay for casual workers employed by MAM and Altara would be between 32 and 42.5 per cent, excluding allowances.

FAAA federal secretary Teri O’Toole said the agreement demonstrated what could be achieved when companies like Qantas sat down and worked with its employees.

Flight Attendants Association of Australia federal secretary Teri O'Toole and Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt have hailed the agreement. Picture: Christian Gilles

“Qantas has shown that big business can lead the way and do things better, and we welcome the change under Vanessa Hudson’s leadership,” she said.

A Qantas spokesman said the agreement was “another important step” following the airline’s announcement last year that it would support the FAAA’s three same job, same pay applications for short-haul cabin crew.

“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,” the spokesman said.

Qantas said in February that the gross impact of the same job, same pay legislation and the changes to its long-haul cabin crew agreement this financial year was about $65 million, with the company examining “revenue and cost savings initiatives” to offset the impact.

Ms O’Toole said the FAAA last year negotiated pay increases of up to 30 per cent for Qantas’s international crew using the same legislation as the basis for the negotiations.

“As a result, Qantas agreed to offer 2455 of their labour hire international employees direct employment with the parent company,” she said.

“This legislation has changed the lives of working cabin crew, particularly those employed by the Qantas Group. Some of these crew will no longer need three jobs to make ends meet and put a roof over the heads of their families.”

Changes under Vanessa Hudson’s leadership have been welcomed by the FAAA. Picture: Qantas/NewsWire

Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt said the pay rises were a direct result of Labor’s workplace laws “which closed the loophole that allowed labour hire workers to be paid significantly less than direct employees of a business, despite doing the same work on the same rosters”.

“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,” he said.

“They do the same job and they deserve the same pay.”

Following separate action by the Transport Workers Union, almost 1500 low-paid Jetstar cabin crew last week endorsed an agreement that will see them receive a $8000-a-year increase in remuneration.

Under the agreement, 900 cabin crew employed at Team Jetstar and 585 cabin crew at Altara will receive average annual increases in base pay and allowances of $8003 and $8178 respectively.

TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said the agreement “not only increases pay but affords crucial job security with the addition of direct employment opportunities”.

“Qantas pioneered the strategy of creating new companies to pay people less,” he said.

“Now TWU members are pioneering the return to good, secure jobs in aviation – and this agreement is a crucial step in that process.”