Jetstar accused of underpaying cabin crew.

[Sunfish]

If they can get away with doing it to cabin crew, they will do it to pilots and engineers. That much is clear.

It appears that large chunks of Australina business are following a "No Australian Need Apply" hiring policy.

The staffing model seems to be:

1. Operate through agencies so as to maintain "plausible deniability" in regard to their oppressive contract conditions. Actual wages and benefits (leave, superannuation, maternity, age discrimination, dismissal, etc.) are a matter for the agencies, not the airline.

2. Hire foreign staff, preferably from at least Three different countries, so as to ensure that they cannot organise due to national distrust. Mixing Chinese and Vietnamese would be a good start since they have historical and current antipathies. Add some Malaysians and Indonesians to taste.

3. Ensure that contract dates are not synchronised, thus ensuring a constant coming and going of staff so that relationship development, and hence the possibility of organisation, is further reduced.

4. Ensure that all staff know, or at least suspect, that contract renewal will not happen if there is any criticism of management, work practices, or working conditions.

This is the desired business model for the mining industry and now of course Qantas.


Jetstar is being taken to court for allegedly underpaying cabin crew that were recruited in Thailand.

The eight crew members are allegedly being paid less than half of what they are entitled to when they work on domestic routes in Australia.

The Fair Work Ombudsman began taking action in the Federal Court on Friday for the workers, but says it may take action for up to 300 international cabin crew rostered on Jetstar's domestic routes.

Two Asian companies which recruit staff for Jetstar - Valuair and Tour East - are facing court over the matter.

Both companies are part owned by Qantas.

The ombudsman is seeking to have the eight staff reimbursed at least $7,500 they are owed in back pay.

It is also seeking penalties against Jetstar.................more at the link

Jetstar accused of underpaying cabin crew - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-28/jetstar-in-court-over-cabin-crew-pay/4037892)

[Keg]

The fish rots from the head down. For these sorts of despicable acts you need to look no further than the leadership of J* from the very beginning. I can't believe the media see him as such a pin up boy.

[UPPERLOBE]

Divide and conquer, pure and simple.

It amazes me that people still can't see the game, the media is owned by those who seek to exploit everything and as such will distort, alter, imagine or otherwise do whatever it takes to spin whatever they want us to believe.

You only have to think back to last year to see how the pilots & engineers 'dispute' was portrayed by the media, we knew right from wrong there, but how many of us got into arguments with people outside the industry over it, imagine the liberties they take with every other news item.

[indamiddle]

cabin crew 300
underpayment $7,500
$2,250,000
someone will need an urgent restructure to the tems of their bonus

[The Kelpie]

Plus the FWA imposed fine up to a maximum of $33,000 per breach.

300 x $33,000 = $9.9m

......plus legal costs in defending!!

If FWA let them off the hook with the fines they will be a laughing stock and will open the door for all companies to think this sort of attitude to legislation is acceptable. IT IS NOT!!

...What about the immigration angle on all this. Chris Bowen and his department is very quiet on this one.

More to Follow

The Kelpie

[Mill Worker]

Does anybody know if Asian based cabin crew have to pay oz tax if they operate domestic sectors?

[booglaboy]

No. They r wholly paid by their contract company and pay tax in their country of origin. Las for Jq claims-I know factually that they do position foreign crew in oz for up to 5 days at a time to operate wholly domestic legs. Ie darwin-mel-Darwin. They also use the same crews ex Perth for days at a time. These Perth legs are international flts but the crew flt per-sin per or per-cgk-per for 5 days

[myshoutcaptain]

Booglaboy and Facts

They also use the same crews ex Perth for days at a time. These Perth legs are international flts but the crew flt per-sin per or per-cgk-per for 5 days Operated by JetstarAsia (3K)... different regos,flight numbers,call signs,uniforms et al.

[booglaboy]

Yes but same foreign crew being based in oz for a week out of Perth

[Bankstown]

Surely United doesn't have to employ Australian crew to operate SYD-MEL-SYD!

[The Kelpie]

No united don't, but they don't pick up domestic passengers that never flew on the original leg either to or from the us.

The kelpie

[rammel]

I thought the problem with this JQ setup was that SIN - DRW was classified and arrived at the International part of the terminal in DRW, then had a different flight number as a purely domestic flight on DRW - MEL - DRW. It may have been the same aircraft, but used two flight numbers.

Where as QF or Australian Airlines when they operated SIN - DRW - CNS was classed as an international flight and used the same flight number the whole way through.

I'm happy to be corrected if this is not how it is or was.

[ACT Crusader]

...What about the immigration angle on all this. Chris Bowen and his department is very quiet on this one.


yeah what's the deal with the special purpose visas and who's monitoring these to ensure compliance??

[The Kelpie]

Jetstar is relying on the crew travel authority issued by Diac however this is for international crew operating flights into and out of Australia to cover them legally for their stopover.

The CTA does not confer work privileges whilst they are here!!

Diac defines work as any activity that would normally attract remuneration. ie steal an Australian job!!

More to follow

The Kelpie

[Capt Kremin]

I know NZ based LH CC were also doing this time of flying. Would the same situation apply?

[Worrals in the wilds]

I'm glad to see FWA are taking action on this, the dogs have been barking about it for yonks now.
Yes but same foreign crew being based in oz for a week out of Perth That's simply a racket. It's not even a case of getting the aircraft to and fro from Singapore and making a few bucks on the way by picking up domestic pax.

[The Kelpie]

I know NZ based LH CC were also doing this time of flying. Would the same situation apply?

Nz citizens have automatic work privileges (and the right to reside) in Australia under the TTMRA.

More to Follow

The Kelpie

[V-Jet]

But,unfortunatley for Jetstar, who appear to be the modern day equivalent of the sort who send children up chimneys

Uncle Fester = Gamfield (Oliver Twist)???

Its slightly off topic, but very funny!!

'It's a nasty trade,' said Mr. Limbkins, when Gamfield had again
stated his wish.

'Young boys have been smothered in chimneys before now,' said
another gentleman.

'That's acause they damped the straw afore they lit it in the
chimbley to make 'em come down again,' said Gamfield; 'that's all
smoke, and no blaze; vereas smoke ain't o' no use at all in
making a boy come down, for it only sinds him to sleep, and
that's wot he likes. Boys is wery obstinit, and wery lazy,
Gen'l'men, and there's nothink like a good hot blaze to make 'em
come down vith a run. It's humane too, gen'l'men, acause, even
if they've stuck in the chimbley, roasting their feet makes 'em
struggle to hextricate theirselves.'

Could that be from an official Jetstar management contract:):)

[Capt Kremin]

Thanks kelpie... thought that was the case... (doesn't make it right though...)

[obira]

NZ citizens have the right to work in Australia under NZ terms and conditions? No superannuation etc etc?

I don't think it's that simple.

[The Kelpie]

No

If NZ citizens work in Australia they must be paid in accordance with Australian legislation. ie Fairwork Act

More to Follow

The Kelpie

[obira]

The NZ LH cabin crew Capt Kremin is talking about are employed under New Zealand conditions.

They fly them into Australia as passengers, put them up in hotels, operate them around the network and then passenger them back to NZ from Australia.

[The Kelpie]

If that is true then the cabin crew should make themselves known to FWA as it will strengthen the 'arms length' element of the case against Jetstar considerably.


There may even be a nice bit of back pay coming and further breaches for jetstar to pay the fine for.

More to Follow

The Kelpie

[Going Nowhere]

NZ CC I spoke to the other day was in the middle of the following trip;

(Pax NZ-SYD) then SYD-DFW-BNE-SIN-BNE THEN (Pax BNE-NZ)

[Worrals in the wilds]

So they're not even doing the legs in and out of NZ. They're just cheap foreign labour being FIFOd in and out of Australia to save paying Australian wages and conditions. Isn't this what all the Pilbara fuss has been about?

J-star are just despicable.:yuk::yuk::yuk:

[Jetsbest]

The F/As to which Kremin refers are actually NZ-based Qantas F/As. :ooh:

Since early May QF longhaul aircraft no longer fly from Auckland to anywhere (ie LAX or SYD/BNE/MEL) so all the AKL-based crew (who are A330 and 747 rated only) have supposedly been offered transfers to Perth and other Oz bases but, in the interim, they have evidently been flying rosters which pax into OZ in order to operate QF longhaul services from Oz.

It doesn't sound a whole lot different to what J has done. The plot thickens? :E

[Mstr Caution]

They've been crewing Qantas International ex Australia with NZ based crew for years.

Trips like AKL-SYD-JNB-SYD-AKL

[gobbledock]

Wow, I didn't think the root cause of Unlce Festers departure would start to surface so soon! Dodgy employment practices, senate inquiries, fatigue, FWA enquiries, incidents, it's all unraveling, no wonder Uncle Fester bailed?
Another reason they have replaced Uncle Fester with a lass, to try and soften the blow of incessant scrutiny.
Tsk tsk Mr Fester, it will take more than that old chestnut to fool some of us. At this rate if the Senators have their way they will be squeezing her plums also!

[stainedpantystealer]

I met a QF hostie the other day while on staff travel - she was also NZ based telling me she regularly does trips as detailed above (pax to syd then Dfw/sin/joburg etc), however she is NOT employed by qantas as someone mentioned above, she (and I guess all/most?) is employed by Jetconnect - true story. So looks like QF are doing the same illegal deal as JQ - bring in foreign crew employed by external company and work them from oz, then send them home - foreign pay/conditions/no oz tax/etc etc etc!

[ejectx3]

Same story here. Met a few like that

I'm so sick of working for crooks

[ferris]

All this and the Rinehart fiasco under the watch of a Labour government. I think they may have underestimated the feelings of their support base on these issues.

[The Kelpie]

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.

More to Follow

The Kelpie

[Worrals in the wilds]

Good for the TWU. :ok:

[blow.n.gasket]

Has the Cabin crew union, F Troop ,or whatever they're called, done anything to chase this shenanigans down?

[weloveseaplanes]

"Is it out of a genuine desire to please the shareholders with increased profits, or are the management just a pack of callous a**holes intent on enriching themselves by any nefarious means possible."

Without a doubt the later.

The unmangement are
just
a pack
of callous
a**holes
intent on
enriching themselves
by any
nefarious
means possible.

[waren9]

Is it true that some of the JQ domestic "tag flights" have been given more conventional 3 digit domestic flight numbers to further confuse?

Be interesting to see which of these "domestic" sectors still use the international database for weight and balance and use foreign crew.

[Sunfish]

Australia is just starting to feel the financial paralysis that is gripping Europe and America. We have been watching it coming for a few years.

By the time this crisis is fully developed, it will be unthinkable for ANY foreigner to work in Australia while there is an able bodied Australian ready to do the same job.

Jetstar is well behind the curve on this issue, as is Qantas, as is Gina Rhinehart. You may have heard Gillard at a Canberra mining conference this week asserting that ALL Australians own this countrys natural resources and they WILL get a share.

Believe me, Gillard is a moderate at present. There are nationalistic forces stirring - kicking out illegal immigrants, stopping immigration and closing mines if necessary to push the dollar down and keep Eastern state Australians in jobs are some of the ideas being pushed.

Twiggy Forrest and John Borghetti are Two business leaders who are ahead of the curve on this matter.

To put that another way - watch the greens increased vote at the next election. They are going to take away Labors left wing voters thanks to Craig Thompson, Bowen, Shorten, Fergussen and the like.

[Worrals in the wilds]

And Katter will poach from Labor's right. CFMEU members were reportedly manning booths for the KAP in Central Queensland at the recent state election.
Apparently they were getting a fair bit of interest from the work boot / hi viz brigade, who are feeling very ignored by Gillard's Labor.