Jetstar distances itself from overseas cabin crew contracts

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This was published 12 years ago

Jetstar distances itself from overseas cabin crew contracts

By Andrew Heasley

Jetstar has distanced itself from the contract conditions its Asian crew are employed on, despite its parent Qantas holding a large stake in the crew's employment company.

In response to an ABC Lateline report aired last night that revealed cabin crew from Thailand were employed on conditions that effectively set no limit on hours of duty, and offered low base wages of just $258 a month, Jetstar's chief executive Bruce Buchanan denied it was akin to "slave labour" conditions.

"We absolutely refute the fact that we are a low payer. We absolutely refute the fact that there's slave labour," Mr Buchanan told ABC 774's breakfast host John Faine.

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The Lateline report revealed the Thai-based crew are employed by a company called Tour East Thailand, in which Qantas holds a 37 per cent ownership stake.

But Mr Buchanan sought to distance Jetstar from the Thai employment company.

"Jetstar does not have an entity in Thailand," the airline said in a statement to the Lateline program. "...The employer is Tour East."

On radio, Mr Buchanan played down Jetstar's parent company Qantas's involvement in the Thai employment company.

"Qantas hold around 30-something per cent," Mr Buchanan said. "That's not a controlling interest."

When asked whether Qantas' stake gave the airline a substantial say in the way it was run, Mr Buchanan said "Absolutely not'.'

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"When we put out a tender for cabin crew in a market like Thailand we get lots of providers who come forth," he said.

The Lateline program aired complaints from five Thai-based crew who said that when they pulled out of a Sydney-Melbourne flight following an international flight, complaining about fatigue from long shifts, they were threatened with the sack.

"Whilst illness, etc is accepted by your employer, poor time management is not.... TET [Tour East Thailand] requires from you an undertaking that you will not repeat these behaviours in the workplace," the employment company's letters to the crew members said.

The Thai crew contract, which allows for shifts as long as 20 hours, also contained a clause that "The Planned Limit and Operational Extensions may be extended by the Employer," — effectively removing a duty-hour limit.

But Mr Buchanan said crew on average work 24 hours a week and the airline's fatigue-management rostering system applied to all crew.

"The contracts they issue — irrespective of the contracts they issue in Thailand — our rostering rules are applied the same way when we build a roster, irrespective if you're a Thai-based cabin crew member or an an Australian-based cabin crew member, or a Singapore-based cabin crew member or New Zealand-based cabin crew member. The same fatigue risk management system applies," he said.

Mr Buchanan said Jetstar was an employer of choice.

"If you look at our employment conditions in each of the markets we employ people we pay very good wages and the working hours are very, very modest," he said.

"The average salary that these Thai cabin crew are taking home is anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000 a year. When you compare that with the Thai average salaries, we're in the top couple of per cent in terms of payers or employers in Thailand."

Mr Buchanan's total remuneration package was more than $1.1 million last year, Qantas' 2010 annual report shows.

Independent senator Nick Xenophon said the contracts for the overseas-based crews "paled in comparison" with the worst features of Work Choices.

"When cabin crew tell me that they are worried they won't be able to function appropriately in the event of an emergency, then that's a serious issue," he told ABC Radio today.

"These are some pretty nasty contracts," Senator Xenophon said, adding they were completely unacceptable from an Australian perspective.

with AAP

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