SACKED QANTAS WOMEN TAKE THE FIGHT TO CANBERRA FOR EQUAL RIGHTS
Sacked Qantas
women will take their fight for equal rights in the workplace to Canberra
tomorrow to attend the Equal Pay Alliance Forum 2010.
“Qantas should be ashamed for singling out those workers least skilled, least able to defend themselves against this attack, being from non-English speaking backgrounds- and throwing people out of jobs because they are female,” said NSW TWU State Secretary Wayne Forno today.
“The kick in the guts these women have received from Qantas is a disgrace and discrimination of the worst kind.”
14 women were sacked by Qantas and excluded from applying for new positions which their male colleagues were offered – and only males were allowed to receive re-training and were appointed in these full time jobs.
“These hard working women are now walking towards a financial wall. Their stories are heart breaking. One of them is looking for work while trying to support three kids and a husband with a brain tumour. Another took out a mortgage and was sacked shortly afterwards. These are extremely capable employees, not objects to be thrown on the scrapheap,” said Mr Forno.
“There must be plenty of work with casuals working up to 76 hours per week.”
Qantas public relations tried to say the cancellation of its contract with Malaysian Airlines necessitated these sackings. This came four months after the women were told they would be fired.
“We will keep fighting in solidarity for these women, to get them re-hired by Qantas as they rightfully should be, and this will set an example for all employers that this kind of 1950’s outdated behaviour and discrimination will not be tolerated.
The Transport Workers Union has filed an application for a general protections dispute with Fair Work Australia seeking to reverse the decision by Qantas to bar all women from 47 new permanent positions created at Sydney Airport.
“Today we launched a new online petition at the TWU to continue our fight in solidarity to get these women reinstated and set an example for other employers that this is not on,” said Mr Forno.
“I encourage anyone who believes in this cause to visit us on our website and sign it to help us in this fight.”
To show your solidarity and support and to sign the petition visit here.
Media contact: Tanie Sansey 9912 0703/ 0410 525 869
Want to circulate this petition in your yard?
You can download the petition by clicking on the link below:
“The kick in the guts these women have received from Qantas is a disgrace and discrimination of the worst kind.”
14 women were sacked by Qantas and excluded from applying for new positions which their male colleagues were offered – and only males were allowed to receive re-training and were appointed in these full time jobs.
“These hard working women are now walking towards a financial wall. Their stories are heart breaking. One of them is looking for work while trying to support three kids and a husband with a brain tumour. Another took out a mortgage and was sacked shortly afterwards. These are extremely capable employees, not objects to be thrown on the scrapheap,” said Mr Forno.
“There must be plenty of work with casuals working up to 76 hours per week.”
Qantas public relations tried to say the cancellation of its contract with Malaysian Airlines necessitated these sackings. This came four months after the women were told they would be fired.
“We will keep fighting in solidarity for these women, to get them re-hired by Qantas as they rightfully should be, and this will set an example for all employers that this kind of 1950’s outdated behaviour and discrimination will not be tolerated.
The Transport Workers Union has filed an application for a general protections dispute with Fair Work Australia seeking to reverse the decision by Qantas to bar all women from 47 new permanent positions created at Sydney Airport.
“Today we launched a new online petition at the TWU to continue our fight in solidarity to get these women reinstated and set an example for other employers that this is not on,” said Mr Forno.
“I encourage anyone who believes in this cause to visit us on our website and sign it to help us in this fight.”
To show your solidarity and support and to sign the petition visit here.
Media contact: Tanie Sansey 9912 0703/ 0410 525 869
Want to circulate this petition in your yard?
You can download the petition by clicking on the link below:
-
Click to download the attached file(s):
- qantas_petition2010.pdf