The Qantas Group has publicly announced that it is standing down 2500 workers from mid-August. The airline announced its decision without consulting the USU/ASU and there remain significant issues with the company’s approach.

USU/ASU members have a lot of concerns and questions about the process and the USU/ASU and Jetstar are meeting on Monday, 9 August to push to make sure that the standdowns are introduced in the most fair way possible, and to work through the detail of how the payments to staff will operate.

USU/ASU forces Government backflip on aviation funding – A big win for Jetstar workers

Following yesterday’s announcement by Qantas that 2,500 Qantas and Jetstar workers would be stood down for 2 months from mid-August, the USU/ASU put pressure on the Federal Government to confirm that its newly announced $750 a week payment would be made available to all stood down Qantas and Jetstar workers, not just pilots and cabin crew.

The Federal Government has now decided to listen to the USU/ASU calls, and has confirmed overnight that all ground crew employed by Qantas and Jetstar will be eligible. This is a big relief as it means no Jetstar workers will be stood down without any pay, but there is still a lot of detail to be worked out about the standdowns and how the $750 a week payment will operate.

Answers we need from Jetstar
Some of the issues we need answers on are:

  • How the new $750 payment interacts with the existing COVID-19 Disaster Relief Payments available through Centrelink, and how workers will be paid the payment
  • How many workers Jetstar expects to stand down in each port
  • How standdowns will operate and whether access to Special Leave Without Pay can be broadened
  • How the allocation of work will be done in a fair way among staff

 
If you have any additional questions please raise these with your delegates or organiser. We will provide members an update with further information as soon as we can.

What other support is available?
We know this is a very stressful time, if you or someone you know needs help do not hesitate to reach out to Lifeline 131114 or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636.

Pass this bulletin to your colleagues who aren’t in the union. They can join at www.usu.org.au/join

If you have any questions about this email or need any assistance at work, please contact your USU organiser Thomas Russell on 0419 761 320 or via email at trussell@usu.org.au