August 30, 2020 — 5.25pm
Virgin Australia's presumptive owner Bain Capital has extended an olive branch to the airline's unions in the form of a workers' advisory council that will consult on how the carrier is relaunched from administration.
The establishment of the body made up of three union representatives, Bain and Virgin chief executive Paul Scurrah follows a union revolt over the
US private equity firm's choice of directors to oversee Virgin.
In a letter sent to unions on Sunday, Bain's local boss Mike Murphy said he agreed to the unions' request to establish a union advisory council, which will meet every fortnight until the end of the year.
"We see this confidential forum as an important opportunity to discuss key matters that go to the heart of Virgin’s recovery, including how we can secure long lasting employment for as many Virgin people as possible," he said.
Mr Murphy said creating such a body was a "unique step in corporate Australia" which underscored the importance it placed in having a constructive relationship with the unions.
Transport Workers Union national secretary Michael Kaine welcomed the news and said his union would try to use the council to have a say in who ends up on the board.
Mr Kaine said the unions did not want to see the type of "spiteful leadership" at Virgin on display at Qantas, "as it uses the pandemic as a cover to replace 2500 ground workers on lower conditions".
The TWU and other unions have objected to Bain's plan to make former Jetstar boss and Qantas executive Jayne Hrdlicka a director and possibly chairman of Virgin, saying they feared she would bring either a budget airline mindset or Qantas' style of
industrial hardball to the smaller airline.
Virgin's second creditors' meeting will be held on Friday, with creditors owed $6.8 billion to vote on the transfer of ownership to Bain.