Transport Workers Union members employed by air service provider Dnata have been angling for a new enterprise bargaining agreement that will include more offers of part-time work and the hiring of more permanent staff.
Ground crew at the air service provider used by Qantas and 20 other major airlines will vote on whether to take industrial action from Monday.Fairfax Media
A successful protected action ballot result would extend protections under the Fair Work Act to all union members at Dnata to take action,including possible strikes if a fair agreement is not reached.
The potential for industrial action comes after weeks of chaos at airports,with lengthy queues,cancelled flights and lost baggage infuriating travellers.
The Transport Workers Union alleges Dnata employees are under “enormous pressure” due to understaffing as the company struggles to recruit workers into low paid,part-time work.
“Existing employees are working longer hours,but are being refused the security of more guaranteed hours in their agreement,and told they’ll have to work longer shifts before being paid overtime rates,” a Transport Workers Union spokesperson said.
Qantas outsourced baggage ground handling to Dnata and other third-party crew services in 2020,resulting in 1700 redundancies. The Federal Court found the move was in breach of the Fair Work Act,a verdict the airline is appealing in the High Court.
At the time,by shifting baggage handling,aircraft cleaning and ground support work to third-party aviation service providers,such as Dnata or Swissport,at 11 airports.
The Transport Workers Union’s national secretary Michael Kaine said that though strike action was a last resort,safety incidents and chronic understaffing would only be exacerbated under the proposed agreement.
The vote result is expected in September.
“Dnata workers are bravely voting to get rights to take protected industrial action because of their shocking treatment despite making huge sacrifices for this company,” he said.
“The short-term,profit-driven obsession that has spread through aviation has led us to crisis point,” Kaine said.
A Dnata airport operations spokesperson said the group was disappointed an agreement had not been reached,saying staff had been offered “reasonable pay increases and higher average earnings”,compared with competitors.
“Despite the challenging business environment,we have been offering our staff a highly competitive pay proposal throughout the negotiations.
“We need to make sure that our operations are financially sustainable,and we can continue to invest in training,infrastructure and equipment to be able to deliver consistent quality and safe services across our operations,” the spokesperson said.Many attempts had been made to engage with the Transport Workers Union to continue discussions to no avail,they said.
“We continue to work with our employees and their bargaining representatives,and engage with them in good faith to create a sustainable platform for our future operations,including a commitment to exploring opportunities to provide greater full-time employment for our workforce which we have communicated to union representatives.”
Qantas an $860 million full-year loss,meaning its cumulative losses during the pandemic have now surpassed $7 billion.
However,the company issued a bullish forecast for the year ahead and announced a $400 million share buyback program. Chief executive Alan Joyce said demand for flights was at record levels,with consumers flocking to air travel after two years of lockdowns.
“I’ve never seen demand this high. The commercial side of the business is the healthiest it’s ever been,and I’m amazed at how rapidly it’s recovering.”
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