Australian Aviation Unions Federation

The Aviation Union Federation of Australia has called on the Australian government to apply further restrictions on the military dictatorship in Fiji, to include companies working with the regime.

Transport Workers Union national secretary, Tony Sheldon, said the gazetting of the Essential National Industries (Employment) Decree 2011, as well as ongoing violent attacks on trade unionists would see trade union members lose access to the last democratic institutions in the country.  

“This is a political attack aimed at workplace representation and one of the country’s last independent democratic institutions. As Qantas group chairman, Leigh Clifford has a duty to ensure this attitude does not enter the Qantas/Jetstar group and their partnership workforce in Fiji,” Mr Sheldon said.

“Qantas are a major shareholder in Air Pacific along with the Fijian Military Dictatorship, and they have a corporate responsibility as an Australian icon to stand up. Qantas management needs to stand up for human rights and ensure ILO conventions are met.

“When he headed Rio Tinto, current Qantas chair Leigh Clifford was “known for an obsessional focus on cost cutting”, and we are seeing that philosophy extend itself across the Qantas group to Air Pacific.

“Rather than cost cutting, we need to see improvements across the Qantas Group’s international operations. The safe loading of planes, as well as the training, security checks and labour standards of employees affects safety in Australia, as well as overseas.

“Employment conditions across the Qantas group need to ensure quality employees are maintained across all operations. This gives all stakeholders in Qantas, including staff and passengers at Jetstar, Air Pacific, Jettconnect and others, confidence that the standards applied are the safest and best.

“Australia must act as it has in the face of other recent regimes which attack human rights, like we have in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Burma. Over 40 per cent of Fiji’s tourism comes from Australia – we can make a difference to decisions made in that country and we should.

“Thousands of Qantas group employees are currently voting what steps can be taken at the Australian icon to protect Qantas from its own management and their right to decent pay, conditions and job security. Qantas employees are looking at protected industrial action against Qantas group airlines on their Fijian routes in order to have the company agree to minimum employment standards across the operations, regardless of port,” Mr Sheldon said.

FAAA Domestic and Regional Secretary Jo Ann Davidson said she was disappointed to learn that flight attendants for Air Pacific would receive a pay cut after almost six years with no increases.

“After months of stalling, the Fijian airline has told its flight attendants they want overtime rates of pay removed along with long-service leave.”

“At the same time, Air Pacific wants to significantly reduce annual leave and sick leave entitlements, while also removing the appeal process and representation in the workplace.

“The reductions to conditions in this agreement show the disregard airlines have in general for the work completed by flight attendants. Seeing the profession as one which is ripe for cost cutting, rather than the service, safety and security presence it provides, can only undermine confidence once in the sky,” Ms Davidson said.

ALAEA federal secretary Steve Purvinas, said that Fiji was opening itself up to understaffing issues which could be a problem for safety for all airlines out of Fiji.

“We have been told that five engineers have left Fiji and gone to Papua New Guinea where the pay is better due to the demand for fly-in/fly-out work at the mines,” Mr Purvinas said.

“To fill up the short-fall, they brought back 70 and 75 year old retirees and fast-tracked certifications for others. Given Air Pacific flies what is reportedly the world’s oldest operating 747 on the Australian route, this is a major concern and something you would want CASA looking into,” Mr Purvinas said.

The General Secretary of the Transport Workers Union of Fiji, Kamlesh Kumar, said the workforce had offered several ways in which there could be cost savings.

“The workforce agreed to a 10 per cent pay reduction for three months in 2009, so we can’t be accused of being unreasonable. Since August 2006, workers have not received any pay increases, we cannot go backwards here,” Mr Kumar said.

The Aviation Union Federation of Australia is comprised of the Transport Worker’s Union (TWU), Flight Attendants Association of Australia (Domestic & Regional Division) (FAAA) and the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers (ALAEA) and represents over 30,000 workers in Australian aviation.