Jetstar achieves truce

JETSTAR has reached an agreement with its ground staff and baggage handlers regarding a long-running pay dispute, with the carrier negotiating a 12% pay rise over four years.

The agreement follows the cancellation of several Jetstar flights in Australia earlier last month, seeing ground staff walk off the job, resulting in major travel disruptions (TD 17 Feb).

Jetstar’s Group CEO Gareth Evans described the deal as a win against a campaign of “misinformation” from the Transport Workers Union (TWU).

“The TWU tried to dictate how we run our business by pushing us to guarantee some part-time workers more hours regardless of what work the airline actually needs,” he said.

Despite staff agreeing to terms on a resolution, the TWU said the airline had used “disgraceful blackmail tactics” in achieving its aims, claiming the airline was threatening to withhold a planned pay increased if staff did not agree.

“It is not easy to stand up at your workplace along with your mates and say no to your manager, Jetstar workers did this for as long as they could but for low-paid workers the prospect of being denied money from a rate increase that was due a year ago was too much,” said TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine.

The TWU chief also took aim at the Federal Govt for not backing the rights of airport workers.

“Thousands of workers across the airports are underemployed, some on as few as 60 hours a month,” he said.

“Our Federal Govt is standing by and allowing this to happen at a time when...low wage growth is dragging our economy down”.