From Transport Workers Union
AFS: THE STALKING HORSE IN A MALIGN I.R. AGENDA
By Wayne Forno
16 Jul, 2010
16 Jul, 2010
The Transport Workers’ Union of NSW urges Airport Fuel Services (AFS) to
withdraw its threat to lock out workers, and to continue negotiations
so that a protected-action stoppage can be averted.
AFS — which is owned by Qantas, BP, Caltex, and Mobil — is determined to introduce a “B Rate” for casuals, those made up to permanent, and new employees the equivalent of $14,000 a year less than permanent staff — for identical work. With shift and penalty rates factored in, the differential is compounded.
“This is a brazen attempt by AFS’s corporate puppet-masters to entrench workplace inequality,” TWU State Secretary Wayne Forno said. “Any reversal of the concept of equal pay for equal work is intolerable to community sentiment and fundamental human rights, and we will resist it fiercely.
“Qantas has long been obsessed with casualising its workforce. If AFS is allowed to have its way, this is a green light to Qantas — and every other big company — that the mass casualisation and impoverishment of the Australian workforce can go ahead.
A full-bench ruling by Fair Work Australia last month said that the TWU was permitted to negotiate a “site rate” for casual and permanent staff.
Last week, full-time staff agreed to stand by their casual colleagues (who form 48 per cent of AFS’s Sydney operation) and submit a reduced wage claim in order to secure a site rate. AFS rejected the claim, and threatened staff with a week-long lock-out. Staff then voted unanimously to take protected action if necessary.
Yesterday the TWU issued AFS management with a notice of industrial action for a 24-hour stoppage on Wednesday, 21 July.
“A stoppage is the last resort,” Mr Forno said. “That the employees have voted for a withdrawal of labour demonstrates the seriousness of this dispute. We want a speedy resolution to this, all the better if it is before Wednesday. It’s time for AFS to wake up, and deal with us fairly.”
ENDS
Media contact: Michael Wong 9912 0708 / 0404 567 054
“This is a brazen attempt by AFS’s corporate puppet-masters to entrench workplace inequality,” TWU State Secretary Wayne Forno said. “Any reversal of the concept of equal pay for equal work is intolerable to community sentiment and fundamental human rights, and we will resist it fiercely.
“Qantas has long been obsessed with casualising its workforce. If AFS is allowed to have its way, this is a green light to Qantas — and every other big company — that the mass casualisation and impoverishment of the Australian workforce can go ahead.
A full-bench ruling by Fair Work Australia last month said that the TWU was permitted to negotiate a “site rate” for casual and permanent staff.
Last week, full-time staff agreed to stand by their casual colleagues (who form 48 per cent of AFS’s Sydney operation) and submit a reduced wage claim in order to secure a site rate. AFS rejected the claim, and threatened staff with a week-long lock-out. Staff then voted unanimously to take protected action if necessary.
Yesterday the TWU issued AFS management with a notice of industrial action for a 24-hour stoppage on Wednesday, 21 July.
“A stoppage is the last resort,” Mr Forno said. “That the employees have voted for a withdrawal of labour demonstrates the seriousness of this dispute. We want a speedy resolution to this, all the better if it is before Wednesday. It’s time for AFS to wake up, and deal with us fairly.”
ENDS
Media contact: Michael Wong 9912 0708 / 0404 567 054
© Copyright 2010 by Transport Workers Union