Jetstar crew members claim exploitation
Jetstar Airlines has been accused tonight of compromising safety by exploiting cabin crew, demanding they work 20-hour or longer shifts.
Transcript
ALI MOORE, PRESENTER: Jetstar Airlines has been accused of exploiting cabin crew tonight, demanding they work 20-hour shifts, sometimes longer.Current and former crew members of the Qantas-owned budget airline say the practice leaves them extremely fatigued, compromising cabin safety.
And a clause in the contracts of the foreign-based workers says if they're sacked or break their contracts they can be forced to pay back more than four months of their base wages.
This special report by Steve Cannane. Alison McClymont was the producer.
STEVE CANNANE, REPORTER: At Sydney Airport, holidaymakers check in for Jetstar's afternoon flight to Bali. It's a popular service for those escaping the southern Australian winter.
But for Jetstar crew, the flight to Denpasar is no trip to paradise.
'JAMES', FORMER JETSTAR FLIGHT ATTENDANT: You start at four in the afternoon and finish, back in Sydney, seven the next morning. So it was horrible - I felt like a slave. I've had a couple of times where I had delays on the Bali flight and that 14, 15-hour shift would turn into a 19-hour, 20-hour shift.
RICHARD WOODWARD, AUSTRALIAN & INTERNATIONAL PILOTS ASSOCIATION: Well the cabin crew are suffering very badly because they don't have a regulated limit on how many hours they can do, particularly the foreign crews, and so they're working the maximum hours.
For instance, they're doing Sydney-Bali and back - that's about a 17-hour night. That's very, very fatiguing. The pilots fortunately have an industrial agreement and the upper limit of the Civil Aviation Order agreement.
STEVE CANNANE: This practice of making Jetstar crews fly return shifts, rather than staying overnight like pilots, was raised by Nick Xenophon in the Senate inquiry into airline safety earlier this year.
NICK XENOPHON, INDEPENDENT SENATOR: When cabin crew tell me that if there's an emergency, they don't think they'd be able to cope at the end of a 17 or 18 or 20-hour shift, then it really gives you cause for concern.
STEVE CANNANE: And concerns about fatigue are not confined to Jetstar's international flights.
Lateline has obtained over 60 incident reports that show that at least 37 crew members have filed complaints this year to Jetstar management about fatigue and exhaustion after flying the Sydney-to-Perth and Sydney-to-Darwin routes.
They've also raised serious concerns about the cabin crews' ability to deal with emergencies.
JETSTAR FLIGHT ATTENDANT ONE (male voiceover): I believe that if there was an emergency situation, crew would not be alert enough to respond accordingly.
JETSTAR FLIGHT ATTENDANT TWO (female voiceover): It is unsafe and I am concerned that it will only be when something unfortunate happens that something will be done about this.
STEVE CANNANE: Flight attendants are also worried about their own safety after doing shifts that cross from day into night into morning.
JETSTAR FLIGHT ATTENDANT THREE (male voiceover): I was afraid I might have a car accident on the way home from duty.
JETSTAR FLIGHT ATTENDANT FOUR (female voiceover): Driving home after this duty is extremely dangerous and I have found myself almost falling asleep at the wheel.
STEVE CANNANE: And while Jetstar is pushing its Australian-based crews hard, it's the foreign-based crews who are under the most strain.
A third of Jetstar's staff are employed overseas.
Their Bangkok cabin crew are employed by a company called Tour East Thailand.
Lateline has obtained a copy of the employment contract for the Thai-based cabin crews.
It states that crew can work shifts up to 20 long. But as this contract shows, in effect there are no limits to the hours they can be forced to work.
CABIN CREW EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT, TOUR EAST LTD (male voiceover): "The planned limit and operational extensions may be extended by the employer."
STEVE CANNANE: This clause is not in any contracts for Jetstar's Australian-based crews.
NICK XENOPHON: Not only is a clause like that unconscionable, it just seems incredibly unsafe. How will a crew be able to cope with an emergency if they've been required to work in excess of 20 hours in just one shift? It's something that doesn't apply to Australian cabin crew for good reason and it shouldn't apply to foreign-based cabin crew who are doing work here in Australia.
STEVE CANNANE: Jetstar declined to be interviewed for this story, but in a statement tonight said there are clear limitations on hours.
STATEMENT FROM JETSTAR (male voiceover): "Jetstar has clearly established duty limitations that are consistently applied regardless of where our cabin crew are based."
STEVE CANNANE: Jetstar's Thai-based flight attendants get paid a base wage of AU$258 a month. Each hour they fly, they get another $7 an hour, plus allowances. They don't get paid for sick leave and have half the annual leave of their Australian colleagues.
While on annual leave, they get paid less than normal. That AU$7 an hour on top of their base wage, becomes just $9 a day.
Annika, as she's asked to be called, says foreign-based cabin crew are under immense pressure.
'ANNIKA', JETSTAR FLIGHT ATTENDANT (female voiceover): Asian-based crew aren't unionised and they're constantly threatened with the non-renewal of their contracts should they speak out about anything to do with their jobs.
STEVE CANNANE: And there's an extraordinary financial disincentive not to speak out. If Thai-based crew quit their jobs early or are sacked, they can be forced to pay back up to four and half months of their base wage.
In its statement to Lateline, Jetstar also said:
STATEMENT FROM JETSTAR (male voiceover): "Some of our international cabin crew are required to pay a bond as a compensation for investment in training, if a cabin crew member leaves within two years of employment. This is a locally based arrangement that reflects the local market conditions ...".
STEVE CANNANE: On April 22nd, five Thai-based crew, exhausted from a series of domestic and international flights, pulled out of a flight from Sydney and Melbourne, citing fatigue. They were concerned they wouldn't be able to respond to an emergency situation, should one arise. In response, they got this letter from their employer, Tour East Thailand, threatening them with the sack.
TOUR EAST THAILAND (female voiceover): "Whilst illness, etc., is accepted by your employer, poor time management is not ... TET requires from you an undertaking that you will not repeat these behaviours in the workplace."
STEVE CANNANE: This letter castigated the crew members for causing damage to the reputation of their employer, Tour East Thailand, who hire cabin crew for Jetstar. But Tour East Thailand is unlikely to lose its contract with Jetstar. Qantas owns 37 per cent of Tour East Thailand.
NICK XENOPHON: On the face of it, it seems as though the Bangkok-based crew are being looked after by an independent contractor at arm's length from Qantas, when in fact Qantas has an iron grip on this company. It's a pretty mean and tricky set of operations and Qantas really needs to come clean on this.
STEVE CANNANE: Jetstar cabin crew fear more and more flight attendants will be hired under this model: foreign-based, subcontracted, with lower wages and poorer conditions.
ANNIKA (female voiceover): It's all about the money. It's about making as much money as they can. We're constantly cutting corners and pushing the crew, as that's the only the area where we can save.
STEVE CANNANE: Steve Cannane, Lateline.
ALI MOORE: In its statement to Lateline tonight, Jetstar said it has made considerable investment in its fatigue management systems, and it says Jetstar is continuing to invest and build in this important area, in line with a global best practice risk management approach, adding that Jetstar continues to assess their operations in light of their fatigue management system that shows safety is always the first priority.
The full statement and responses to specific questions will be posted on the Lateline website.
Read the full statement and response from Jetstar.
Do you have a comment or a story idea? Get in touch with the Lateline team by clicking here.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Jetstar crew members claim exploitation | Lateline | #Ausunions
via abc.net.au
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