On the 12 May Qantas announced that they would be offering all Qantaslink members based at Sydney Domestic Airport (T3) direct employment with Qantas. We have welcomed this proposal, because our Qantaslink members have already been doing similar work to our Qantas mainline members, but at a much lower pay rate. Also, our Qantaslink Group 1 members are currently bargaining for better pay and conditions in their enterprise agreement, and this will meet a lot of their Log of Claims.
However, as with any proposed change to the nature of your work, there can be teething problems and issues arising from the transition of your working conditions, which your employer is required to consider as part of a consultation process. There have been a few developments since Qantas’s announcement, as members are in the process of resolving these issues with Qantas.
Qantaslink Snap Survey
Firstly, we opened a survey to members to understand their thoughts on the proposal and any concerns they may have. Most responders to our survey have said they find the proposal positive, but around a third have said they were feeling unsure.
Of the concerns raised, the main issue has been the potential impact on rostering and work-life balance.
Meeting with Qantas on 20 May
We arranged a meeting with Qantas and our Qantaslink CSA delegate, and a MOCO and CSS rep for 20 May, to get an initial overview of the changes. In this meeting, we raised members’ prevailing concerns around rostering and work-life balance.
Once Qantas showed us a sample roster for part-time CSAs, we raised our grave concerns regarding Qantas rostering practices, as Qantas’s proposed roster was appalling. This includes Qantas’s usual practice of rostering part-time CSAs on 5 days per week and rostering single days off. Qantas advised us that they would be meeting with their Workforce Planning department and would come back to us with some further roster modelling in writing, so we look forward to Qantas providing a new and improved roster proposal to our members to review.
Qantaslink Group 1 enterprise bargaining
While we are supportive of the positive changes this transition will bring our airport Qantaslink members, our bargaining for a new Qantaslink Group 1 enterprise agreement continues. According to good faith bargaining principles, which members are entitled to under the Fair Work Act 2009, Qantas cannot use their decision to offer airport members direct employment as an excuse to put the Qantaslink bargaining on hold. On top of this, Qantas is yet to make our Qantaslink members an enterprise agreement offer or provide any response to their Log of Claims.
Therefore, USU sent formal correspondence to Qantas on 19 May to request that they provide a response to members’ Log of Claims within 14 days. This allows Qantas plenty of time to formulate their response to members’ claims and put a pay offer on the table.
Your USU remains by our Qantaslink members’ side in this transition, and in your corner, to make sure that all major workplace changes are introduced fairly and for your overall benefit.
