Further to the last.
I have confirmed that the handlers went out for 4 hours industrial action.
Lack of manpower on the ramp has been there major concern & the recent introduction of I-Roster was the straw that broke the camels back.
Manpower wise, I was told that 12 handlers use to load something like a 744 freighter, now only 3 do the same work.
Handlers have serious OHS concerns due to the lack of manpower.
An example of this was a handler was loading a pallet in the hold & when the pallet moved his hand was pinned / wedged under the pallet. Due only 3 baggage handlers, one on the tug, one outside & the third in the hold. He was supposedly there for 20 minutes or so before any concern was raised.
As for I-Roster. As previously stated. Crew working as a "gang" would be able to cover for one or two guys who would "skip" off work early. Now once a "job" is complete the leader would report "job finished" and rather than be allocated new jobs as a group the gang would "splinter" to the allocated work. Therefore it's not possible for one to skip off work early.
As for employer / employee relations their are also some investigations going on with regard to staff travel but that's another issue all together.
Speaking to someone who was at the meeting with senior management (BF) on Wednesday, supposedly the company played the card they were unaware of any concerns of manpower shortages. Management indicated at the time, were the handlers looking for VR payouts & the response was NO, they wanted manpower issues resolved to satisfy their OHS concerns.
Other issues also exist, such as delays loading & unloading due to a shortage of baggage trolleys & the company not willing to invest in aquiring more trolleys.
I would expect that more delays will ocurr until there concerns are addressed.
MC
