Qantas workers sacked offered AWAs

Date: 16 February 2008

Around 170 staff at Qantas Valet Parking across Australia are being made redundant and then offered their jobs back on five-year AWAs that remove their penalty rates and cut their take home pay by up to $300 a week or $15,000 a year.

From March 1, a new contractor, Equity Valet Parking, is due to take over Qantas' Valet Parking service which had been operated by Hertz Australia since 1986.

The new contractor is trying to lock its staff into five year Australian Workplace Agreements that remove the workers' entitlements to shift penalties, overtime payments, RDOs and other conditions.

The contractor's actions show that many employers are still trying to take advantage of the Howard Government's unfair Work Choices IR laws say unions.

"This is shameful and ugly behaviour by an employer who is still taking attempting to use Work Choices,"ACTU President Sharan Burrow said.

"This wouldn't be able to happen if the Liberals and Nationals had immediately passed the Rudd Government's new legislation to ban the use of AWAs.

"On Thursday the Liberal and National Parties voted in the Senate to block the passage of a new law introduced by the Rudd Government that would have begun dismantling Work Choices and ban the use of new AWAs.

"Every worker that is forced to sign a new AWA, including the valet workers, should blame the Liberals and Nationals for the cuts to their pay, conditions and rights," Ms Burrow said.

"Some of the employees have worked for Qantas Valet Parking for nearly twenty years,"Australian Service Union Secretary Ingrid Stitt said.

"They have done their job well and the service has operated successfully.

"The workers are not highly paid. Their base salary is around $630 a week.

"Now a new contractor has come in and wants to force the workers onto AWAs and cut all of their penalty rates and overtime pay.

"It's terrible that when we finally elect a Federal Government to get rid of AWAs that a company is still taking advantage of the Coalition's unfair Work Choices IR laws to hurt hard working Australians in this way."

Media contacts

Ingrid Stitt, ASU ph 0418 357 440

For further information

Contact:	Shannon Walker
Union:	ACTU
Contact Mobile:	0414 694 476
WWW:	http://www.actu.asn.au/

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