USU/ASU members are very concerned about recent announcements regarding redundancies in Virgins Corporate and Head Office teams.
Yesterday, Virgin announced 350 redundancies at its Corporate and Head Office in Brisbane. We condemn this decision and the way the announcement was handled. The company made the announcement before notifying the union about consultation and providing adequate support to staff impacted by the decision. The company’s poor communication has also had an impact on Virgin Ground Crew, who are anxious to know how this will affect them.
We know this is a very stressful time, do not hesitate to seek assistance if you need it. Organisations like Lifeline 131114 or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636 are available if needed.
We have written to the company asking for the details of the proposed redundancies and an explanation for their behaviour. It is likely that we will be meeting with Virgin on Monday, 1 February to discuss this decision.
We do not believe any of the announced redundancies are at airports, but we have asked Virgin to include your Airports representatives in discussions on Monday. This decision may have a flow on impact for airport staff and they deserve to hear what the company has to say.
Next Steps
We will be in a position to update members with more detail on this matter once the meeting with Virgin takes place. It’s very disappointing that after a very arduous 2020 management did not have the decency to meet with impacted staff and your union to ensure that the full details of the announcement were made available.
Email this bulletin to your colleagues who aren’t in the union. If we work together, we can save jobs and build a better workplace.
If you are not yet an USU/ASU member – it is not too late to join. Sign up now to make sure you are supported throughout this crisis: www.usu.org.au/join
For more information please contact interim Organiser Clare Raffan on craffan@usu.org.au
