The USU and employee representatives have been involved in talks with Qantas management regarding details of the upcoming restructure of the customer care and baggage services areas. This is a major restructure and will have flow on repercussions for the many staff both directly and indirectly impacted by the changes.

The EOI process came to a close last Friday, with the vast majority of employees expressing an interest in seeking redeployment elsewhere in Qantas rather than opting for redundancies. The union met again with Qantas management on Monday 6th November and held discussions surrounding the upcoming recruitment process and principles that will govern how the nine customer care jobs will be selected. The outcome of this meeting with management was somewhat positive, with the USU offering alternative options regarding numerous issues. The union was able to make a number of alterations to the proposal put forward in order to make the process more fair and equitable for all people involved, increasing the number of opportunities and degree of choice that affected employees have available to them. The initial timeline for the customer care positions is as below:

1x Team Leader Customer care (ASU9)

  • To be advertised by Wednesday 8th November
  • Applications open for 7 days
  • Qantas hope to make an offer to the successful applicant by 20th November, effective immediately

8x Advocate Customer Care (ASU7)

  • To be advertised by Wednesday 8th November
  • Applications open for 2 weeks
  • Qantas hope to offer positions to successful applicants by 30th November

For both of the above positions, the union felt it was prudent to give first chance at applying for these jobs to current permanent staff within the customer care and baggage services teams. Employees on secondment will be given an opportunity to fill the roles if there isn’t sufficient suitable applicants after the first round and some positions remain unfilled.

We understand this is a very uncertain time for the many staff affected by these changes, including both permanent and seconded employees within the teams. It will be a juggling act to try and weigh up the rights of all parties and the obligations from both Qantas and the union throughout the process. Qantas has an EAP program that you may make use of or you can contact the union should you seek any further advice or information.

Finally, the union would like to make one thing clear, we will fight for members first and foremost. Your USU organiser Josh Paterson has been heavily involved in this process from the beginning and is attempting to reach a solution that will ensure the futures of as many of our faithful union members as possible. If you aren’t already, it is now extremely important to become a member of the USU.

Contact Josh on 0419 761 320 or jpaterson@usu.org.au to find out more information, or join online here.