Jetstar accused on safety of staff
Mon "The Australian"
Jetstar accused on safety of staff
By Steve Creedy, Aviation writer
July 19, 2004
JETSTAR ground crew were facing "sweatshop conditions", with shifts of up to 19 hours and the number of workers per aircraft as little as a third of manning levels at competitor Virgin Blue, union officials said yesterday.
The Transport Workers Union has asked NSW workplace safety agency WorkCover to investigate conditions at Qantas subsidiary Express Ground Handling after a worker fell off the rear of a Jetstar aircraft and injured his arm while loading luggage in Sydney last Wednesday.
The incident was the second ground handling problem at Jetstar since the low-cost operator began flying in late May.Last month, a Boeing 717 damaged its front entry door at Sydney airport when it reversed away from the terminal with the aerobridge still in position.
In the latest safety scare, the Transport Safety Bureau has requested a full report from the pilots of a Jetstar and a Qantas plane allegedly involved in a near miss at Queensland's Hamilton Island on Saturday.
The TWU says it wants Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon to investigate what it says are deteriorating conditions at the ground handling subsidiary.
It says safety, training, manning levels and systems of work at EGH are all causes for concern and that it is worried the problems are part of a push to reduce conditions across the industry.
But Jetstar denied yesterday that there were safety concerns and said it was satisfied with the way EGH was operating.
"Safety is just simply not compromised," Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway said.
Qantas also emphasised its commitment to safety and denied that its subsidiary was working outside its enterprise bargaining agreement.
The stoush over ground handling comes as Jetstar is due today to officially add the first 177-seat Airbus A320 to its fleet, after receiving Civil Aviation Safety Authority clearance on Friday.
TWU official Glenn Nightingale said Jetstar's low fares were coming at the price of exploited and injured workers as well as the safety and security of passengers.
Mr Nightingale said Virgin Blue and Qantas used six workers a plane to unload baggage and freight but that EGH at one stage had six workers handling three Jetstar aircraft.
"It's the epitome of exploitation of workers under sweatshop conditions," Mr Nightingale said.
"It's only a matter of when someone will be killed. Essentially, you have six workers doing the work of what should be 18 workers, with horrendous shifts of 19 hours' duration straight."
In contrast, he said, "Virgin's a low-cost structure and operates with correct manning levels and the appropriate team-based support".
Attempts to obtain comment from EGH were unsuccessful but Qantas spokesman Michael Sharp said the airline was surprised the union had gone to the media without raising the problems with the airline.
Mr Sharp said the number of people used to unload an aircraft varied, depending on several factors.
He said that, on average, Virgin might use five people, while EGH would use four.
Mr Sharp said EGH was boosting the number of ground handling workers.
However, new staff needed to undergo compulsory training and mandatory security checks.
"Everything has to be done according to the book and obviously it is," he said.
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Last edited by Wirraway; 19th Jul 2004 at 07:07.