Update on USU/ASU – Jetstar Negotiations

The USU/ASU met with Jetstar to negotiate over your new Enterprise Agreement.

We are pleased to say there has been positive movement in our claims.

1. Shift swaps for better work flexibility

The USU/ASU and Jetstar have an in-principle agreement that part-time port workers can shift swap to provide better work-life balance even if it means a worker will drop below their minimum contracted hours. There is a consensus that any request to swap shifts must be employee driven and will be subject to:

• Operational requirements are not being adversely affected,
• No additional cost, such as overtime or penalty payments, is incurred by the Airline,
• The number of swaps does not give rise to an unreasonable administrative workload,
• Both employees concerned genuinely agree to the roster change, and
• Providing clarity that Jetstar will not be contravening the Agreement where a shift swap causes a worker to fall below their minimum weekly hours.

Jetstar proposes that workers cannot drop below 17 hours when the minimum engagement is 25 hours per week and 12 hours when the minimum is 20 hours per week.

2. Uncertificated sick leave days for part-time employees.

Members have reported difficulty in accessing their entitlement to uncertificated sick leave. We claimed a change to our sick leave is accrued for part-time employees. While Jetstar has not agreed to our claim per se, the Airline has proposed a change that will make it easier for part-time workers to understand and access their entitlement to uncertificated sick leave. The process will involve changes to your leave system and record keeping.

From our negotiations with Jetstar, we are positive that the future changes will address sick leave underpayments. We will provide further detail when it becomes available to us.

However, we have not made progress on all our claims yet.

3. A process around stand downs

In light of our experiences, we are claiming a process around stand-downs should Jetstar go back down this path. Disappointingly, the Airline has not agreed to our claim about consulting the ASU before standing down workers and a dispute resolution process for workers to access. We are continuing to negotiate around this claim. It is crucial that Jetstar learns from COVID-10 stand downs and provides comfort to its workforce should stand downs occur.

4. Full-time employment

Jetstar is engaging with our claim on promoting full-time employment. In good faith, the Airline presented several scenarios on the impact of increasing full-time employment. It included a mix of positions (including the number) Jetstar would create and a corresponding decrease in part-time hours. We are using the shoulder periods (non-peak) for our analysis.