The Transport Workers Union (TWU) has called for the resumption of strikes and has claimed that Qantas management has reneged on promises not to outsource labour.
Tony Sheldon, national secretary of the TWU, said that executives for Australia’s national carrier told him during bargaining talks that new workers would not be hired in Australia under the airline’s current corporate scheme. Qantas officials have previously said that despite Asia-focused restructuring plans that Australian jobs would remain in Australia.
Sheldon told reporters that Qantas said ‘verbatim’ that it would begin outsourcing work whenever possible and that employees in Australia would be receiving lower pay rates. He said in response TWU members would take part in a stop work for one hour on Friday and accused the airline of lying to its own workforce and to the media. Such action had been previously called off in the effort of reaching an agreement, the union said.
The news follows nearly six months of negotiations between the airline and the TWU, which represents baggage handlers, caterers and other Qantas ground staff. The union has initiated a series of strikes over the period, which has resulted in weeks of flight disruptions and has affected hundreds of thousands of passengers.
Source:http://www.comparecarhire.co.uk/news/qantas-strikes-to-resume-following-outsourcing-talks-53834969.html
