Govt should prosecute Jetstar: union
AAP
May 30, 2012 4:07PM
THE government should prosecute Qantas for illegally allowing Thai crew to work on domestic Jetstar flights, the transport union says.
The Transport Workers Union (TWU) says the airline has breached Australian Immigration Law amid claims it employed Thai cabin crew to work on domestic routes within Australia for less than $AU400 per month.
Last Friday, the Fair Work Ombudsman lodged a statement in the Federal Court claiming Jetstar owed thousands of dollars in back pay to eight Thai crew who had been working on domestic routes.
Jetstar could not immediately be contacted for comment but on Monday denied using overseas crews for purely domestic flights.
TWU national secretary Tony Sheldon dismissed Jetstar's denial as "a joke" and called for Immigration Minister Chris Bowen to take legal action against the airline.
"This company ... will not take the responsibility that it should," he told reporters in Sydney.
"(Chris Bowen) has a responsibility to the Australian community to prosecute Qantas for breaches of the Immigration Act and allowing those workers to be exploited in this country."
The ombudsman's case against Jetstar has been listed for a directions hearing in the Federal Court in Sydney on August 17.
In addition to back pay for eight Thai workers the ombudsman is seeking to ban the practice of employing overseas workers at lower than Australian rates of pay and conditions.
AAP was continuing to seek comment from Jetstar.
Thanks Tony.
The silence from Bowen is deafening especially given the number of calls made on this subject to the immigration dob in line.
Maybe there is nothing to investigate, maybe there was a Reinhart type deal done with the Qantas Group that has been hushed up?
I think it is time for Mr Bowen to explain it all to us.
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