Jetstar ground staff and baggage handlers are set to walk off the job on Friday in the first of what’s expected to be an on-going wave of strike action as workers rail against airline management over an increasingly ugly pay and conditions dispute.
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Last week union members voted almost unanimously in favour of rolling industrial action throughout the peak Christmas travel period and beyond. This morning, the Transport Workers Union announced that 250 ground and baggage staff would be holding two-hour work stoppages this coming Friday, in action that’s set to affect Melbourne Tullamarine, Melbourne Avalon, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, and Adelaide airports.
The stoppages will occur between 5:30am and 7:30am, and then again from 5:30pm until 7:30pm in Sydney. Tullamarine will cop the stoppages from 9:30am through til 11:30am, and again from 4pm to 6pm. Avalon workers will walk off the job between 8:30am and 10:30am, and then again from 6:30pm until 8:30pm. Brisbane Airport will cop the strike action from 6am until 8am, and again from 6pm until 8pm. Cairns staff will down tools from 5:30am until 7:30am, and again between 1:30pm and 3:30pm. Finally, Adelaide Airport will see strike action take place between 6am and 8am and then again from 6pm until 8pm.
TWU officials asserted that Jetstar officials have robustly rejected pay and condition demands, including a minimum of 30 hours guaranteed work per week for staff.
In a statement this morning, TWU’s National Secretary asserted that “ground crew are given as few as 20 hours guaranteed a week with rates so low that their families are forced to struggle. They are taking a united stand against poverty wages.”
Jetstar officials meanwhile continue to claim that union representatives only submitted their demands two weeks ago, and that the strike action is “completely unjustifiable.” They also assert they have “strong contingency plans in place to mitigate the union’s action.”
In only mildly-related news, Jetstar passengers across the country were experiencing delays of up to 90 minutes due to an IT issue that negatively impacted airport check-in systems. At Tullamarine, this resulted in massive queues for check-in and baggage claim.
https://twitter.com/EliJack27497498/status/1204136098399567872
So there’s that.
