Last night (Wednesday, 21 June) Qantas CEO Alan Joyce wrote to staff saying that the company could not guarantee that they would not be stood down in the near future. The CEO also stated that if stand downs were required, the company expects that support packages would kick in to protect employee income.
USU/ASU members have told us that this email caused a lot of fear and worry, raised a lot of questions, but didn’t provide any answers. You have been through a lot in the last year, and you deserve to be treated much better than this!
We’ve asked for an urgent consultation meeting with the company. We want to discuss the Qantas’ plans for the future and any conversations they’ve had with the government about income support for stood down employees.
We are also calling on Government to support you by urgently bringing back JobKeeper. The current income support system is totally inadequate, and not all employees are eligible.
These are difficult times and you should seek help if you need it. Organisations such as Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636) and Life Line (13 11 14) are available if you need it.
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
