Union’s same-job, same-pay claim hits Qantas

The Transport Workers Union wants to lift the pay of ground workers performing work for Qantas Freight by up to 14 per cent.

The union claim would lift the pay of ground workers performing work for Qantas Freight by up to 14 per cent. Picture: Gaye Gerard/NewsWire

The Transport Workers Union will launch two new same-job, same-pay claims against Qantas, seeking to lift the pay of ground crews performing work for Qantas Freight by up to 14 per cent.

The TWU will file applications in the Fair Work Commission on Friday to increase the pay and conditions of about 100 workers at labour hire companies Wymap and Programd.

It said the two companies employed workers directly on the award and some received base pay of less than $50,000 a year.

TWU national assistant secretary Emily McMillan said there were six different companies with completely separate rates and conditions at Qantas Freight, and the new applications were the first step in reversing almost two decades of workforce fragmentation.

“Labour hire workers at Qantas Freight do exactly the same job as directly hired workers but don’t receive the same pay and conditions. This can’t continue,” Ms McMillan said.

“These are highly trained workers whose roles are essential in ensuring safe plane loads and getting critical supplies across borders.

“Being paid at least as much as the person working next to them is the first step in bringing back decent pay and conditions for these workers.”

Workers performing work for Qantas Freight receive base pay of less than $50,000 a year. Picture: Gaye Gerard/NewsWire

Ms McMillan said the damage done under former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce could not be easily unpicked and the union would consider further same-job, same-pay applications against other Qantas-owned subsidiaries in the freight supply chain.

“Joyce’s Qantas was strategically designed to get wages to rock bottom,” she said.

“TWU members across ground, cabin crew and pilots in Qantas’s supply chain are now saying enough is enough – we need a return to decent pay and conditions.

“Without pay increases and a return to decent jobs, chronic shortages will continue to impact on the travelling community.”

A Qantas spokesman said the airline would assess the latest application after it was lodged on Friday.

The TWU and Qantas are in discussions about the union’s separate application in August to increase the wages of hundreds of low-paid Jetstar cabin crew by 15 to 17 per cent.

The union is pushing to increase the wages of cabin crew employed at Team Jetstar and Altara, who receive a base annual pay of $53,801 and $52,776 respectively, and bring them into line with directly employed ­Jetstar cabin crew who earn $62,039 a year.

Under a separate agreement between Qantas and the Flight Attendants Association of Australia, hundreds of cabin crew will receive pay rises of up to 28 per cent.

The changes will cost Qantas about $60m this financial year.

Ms McMillan said TWU members were progressively dismantling the Qantas model of outsourcing to the lowest bidder.

“There is mass dissatisfaction across the Qantas supply chain. The Flying Kangaroo has done its best to distance itself from its workforce – but right across ground, cabin crew and pilots those workers are now standing up for better pay and conditions.

“Ultimately, we cannot rely on profit-obsessed privatised airlines and airports to act in the aviation industry’s best interests.

We need a Safe and Secure Skies Commission that can balance the needs of workers, passengers and the general public.”

The TWU and Qantas will return to the Federal Court on Friday for further discussions on compensation to 1700 illegally sacked ground workers.