Hobart Flights Cancelled In TWU Dispute

Jetstar has cancelled 4 flights to and from Hobart today due to industrial action being taken by its employees.

In a statement Jetstar said, “to minimise the disruption caused by the TWU action, it has been necessary to proactively cancel some of our domestic flights in Australia. We have now contacted all customers who are impacted by these cancellations.”

Refunds or free re-booking are being offered by the airline.

The Transport Workers Union says the dispute is about both money and safety. At this stage only flights on Wed 19 Feb are affected.

“While Jetstar makes $4 billion in revenue, workers are forced onto part-time, insecure work leaving some struggling on as low as $429 a week,” a spokesperson said. “After eight months, Jetstar is still refusing workers’ reasonable claims such as more hours, stable rosters, and job security for employees rather than bringing in untrained, exploited labour hire.”

The Union claims that at the same time Jetstar has yet to comply with notices from SafeWork NSW related to understaffing and broken equipment. Workers are at risk of ‘serious injury’ from being ‘crushed’ and ‘ingested’ by aircraft, one notice said.

The ‘Safe and Secure Skies’ campaign is seeking to ensure that airport workers are adequately paid and have reliable work. “For too long airport workers have been forced into low-paid, insecure jobs while airlines and airports make billions of dollars in profit,” the TWU says.

They released the results of a survey today that showed 78% of their members had been injured on the job at Jetstar. 80% said they had trouble paying bills due to low wages. Only 37% felt they could take workplace concerns to management.

Doorstop interview today by Jetstar CEO Gareth Evans

Jetstar CEO Gareth Evans said he understood that it was a frustrating time for customers, and that they were doing their best to minimise disruption. Some domestic services had been ‘consolidated’ and some customers move to Qantas flights.

“The majority of impacted customers will fly within a few hours of their original departure time and all customers will arrive at their destinations on the same day,” he said.

Evans took aim at the Union over their demands. “The TWU needs to get in the real world,” he said.” We’ve put on the table 3 per cent annual pay increases, a year’s worth of backpay as well as rostering benefits. That’s well above private sector wage growth and more than what most companies are offering.”

“The TWU is completely out of touch on wages. And completely out of touch with what’s happening to local tourism and the nationwide effort to get communities back on their feet after a very difficult summer.”