Today’s announcement of a record $501 million in profit after tax at Virgin Australia, has been made possible by the commitment of its workforce, with the Transport Workers’ Union calling on Virgin and its owners Bain Capital, to ensure workers share in the airline’s success through fairer rosters, sustainable workloads and more secure, directly employed jobs.
Ground and cabin crew are currently negotiating new agreements, with workers seeking meaningful improvements to rostering arrangements, staffing and work-life balance, wage increases that that stay ahead of cost of living increases and action to address increasing work intensification.
The TWU is particularly concerned about rostering arrangements that can make it difficult for workers to achieve a healthy work-life balance, alongside increasing workloads and pressures on staff.
Pilots will also soon enter negotiations with Virgin, making this a critical period for the airline to invest in its workforce and ensure aviation jobs remain safe, sustainable and secure.
Virgin’s successful insourcing model has already proven decent jobs, and strong standards can also be achieved along with profitability. The TWU is calling on Virgin to build on that success by bringing more work and labour hire under direct employment by Virgin, rather than allowing the fragmentation and outsourcing methods seen elsewhere in the industry. At companies such as Swissport, workers face appalling safety and conditions across the country.
TWU Assistant National Secretary Emily McMillan said:
“Virgin’s strong earnings have been delivered by workers who have stood by the airline and worked hard through its recovery. These results should reward that commitment by providing fairer rosters, meaningful pay increases, sustainable workloads and secure jobs for the people who made them possible.
“A strong airline cannot be built on poor standards or on workplace pressures that keep intensifying. With hundreds of millions in earnings, there is no reason for Virgin, and its billion-dollar owners at Bain, to hold back on practical improvements that will make jobs more sustainable and support reliable services for passengers.
“Virgin has already proved that when you engage with your workforce, it yields results. The employee share scheme and successful insourcing show that Virgin can grow a profitable airline while investing in its workers.
“Now Virgin needs to build on that success by bringing more work in-house and under the Virgin banner, rather than relying on cost-cutting methods that have driven standards down elsewhere in the industry.
“We need to see movement in the current negotiations, with fairer rostering, pay increases that keep ahead of inflation, action on work intensification and stronger job security. Investing in the workforce is the best way to secure Virgin’s long-term success.”
