More than 98 per cent of Virgin cabin crews have voted for a series of 24-hour stoppages, threatening to upend Christmas holiday travel plans for thousands of Australians if a negotiation meeting on Friday doesn’t end favourably.
Virgin staff belonging to the Flight Attendants Association of Australia (FAAA) say they want fairer pay, safer working conditions and better benefits.
The industrial action is the “last resort, but workers are at the end of their tether”, according to the national secretary of the Transport Workers Union Michael Kaine.
A Virgin spokesman said the company will work “intensively” with unions to settle the dispute, saying the union had declined a 15 per cent base salary increase, worth some $50 million over three years, and instead called for an increase of 29 per cent.
There is a looming threat of travel disruption over the busy Christmas period after Virgin Australia cabin crew voted for strike action.
More than 98 per cent of Virgin crew who belong to the Flight Attendants Association of Australia (FAAA) have voted for a number of 24-hour stoppages yesterday, threatening to ground planes.
The Transport Workers Union (TWU), representing transport and aviation workers, said no decision had been reached on holding a strike and talks with Virgin management were continuing.
“It is disappointing the unions have yet to commit to any meaningful concessions to what are a patently excessive set of claims,” Virgin said.
Mr Kaine said Virgin were in a “perilous position” during the COVID pandemic, entering administration and abandoned by the Morrisson government.
“It was this workforce that stood up tall and rescued the company. It voted to allow the company to be bought by private equity concern Bain Capital and these workers entered into sacrificed Terms and Conditions,” Mr Kaine said.
“And of course, all Australians are reaping the benefit of that now – we know what pain Qantas is in – and we need a vital, vibrant second carrier.
“But these workers are now saying, ‘well look, the company’s in a $129 million profit, $5 billion worth of revenue this year, it’s time for the emergency settings to go and it’s time for the company to invest in us as a workgroup so we can provide the best service for Virgin into the future.’”
FAAA secretary Teri O’Toole said Virgin’s air crew have “had enough of looking after the passengers like they are family and being treated like slaves”.
“Virgin’s latest pay offer will not lift Cabin crew wages above poverty rates,” Ms O’Toole said.
Mr Kaine said the strike threat will “hopefully mean nothing” for travellers over Christmas, given they are being treated as a last resort.
The “emphatic vote in favour” of industrial action has come before a negotiation meeting which will take place on Friday, which Mr Kaine said will hopefully result in a “realistic, practical offer about how they are going to invest in this workforce”.
“This is a workforce that is dog-tired after years of battling to get this company back in the air.
“They’re dog-tired, they need better hours, they need better days off, they need fair pay and that’s what they deserve after these years of emergency settings,” Mr Kaine said.
“(If the) company comes back to the table on Friday with a realistic, practical offer, treats these workers with respect, treats them as an investment, not a cost, and we can avoid any chaos over Christmas.”
Virgin has offered cabin staff an extra $150 for each day they work over the summer period as a response to the looming industrial action.
“It’s important that workers are provided an incentive, but they need permanent incentives. We need to attract workers to this workforce, we need to attract workers to stay with this workforce,” Mr Kaine said.
The Transport Union Secretary emphasised the need for workers who have spent a longer time at Virgin to be acknowledged as they are better skilled, but said the company is “stalling on that stuff”.
“We know this is a private equity concern, we know dollars are what means the most to them, but if what means most to them is a good, vibrant airline that they can eventually sell, then they should invest in those front-facing people,” Mr Kaine said.
The Transport Workers Union, the FAAA and Virgin’s pilots and cabin crew remain poised as they wait for the outcome of the meeting on Friday.
