Former Qantas workers slam airline

SOME baggage handlers sacked by Qantas claim they have been refused new airport jobs despite staff shortages and customer complaints about lost luggage.

Many of the axed ground crew staff say they have been struggling to survive since the airline outsourced their jobs to labour hire companies during the pandemic.

More than 1100 baggage handlers, ramp workers and cabin cleaners have filled out a survey by the Transport Workers’ Union as its lengthy legal fight with Qantas drags on.

Almost half of the outsourced staff are still unemployed or in insecure work, with many moving in with family or friends or withdrawing their super to get by, according to the poll released on Tuesday.

A third of the former employees surveyed have developed depression or anxiety since being sacked, with one in 10 saying they have experienced suicidal thoughts and feelings of “worthlessness”.

The survey comes as Qantas and its chief executive officer Alan Joyce (pictured) face widespread criticism from customers of the once world class airline over missing bags, flight cancellations c and lengthy delays at airports.

The TWU has attributed some of the disruption to the outsourcing of ground and baggage handling jobs to third party companies such as Swissport, which has been contacted for comment.

Former ground crew worker Don Dixon blamed the disruption on “corporate nonsense”.

“Passengers can’t get their bags, they can’t get on flights, flight delays, and we have all this experience sitting at home,” he said at Sydney Airport on Tuesday.

Qantas will go to the High Court after losing its appeal against a 2021 ruling that the outsourcing was unlawful and partially driven by many of the axed workers being union members with stronger bargaining capability.