Unions in Fair Work Australia fight with Qantas over offshore jobs

The Australian Council of Trade Unions will today seek to get involved in a Fair Work Australia test case that will examine whether big employers use offshore workers to dodge Australian pay deals.

That is the argument of the Australian International Pilots Association, which claims that Qantas is using a New Zealand subsidiary, JetConnect, to pay pilots below award wages.

According the pilots’ union, JetConnect was originally set up to fly internal routes within New Zealand, but is now flying more than 130 flights between Australia and New Zealand each week.

The pilots’ union says the New Zealand pilots are effectively operating as Qantas pilots in that they wear Qantas uniforms, fly planes with Qantas livery and fly on routes determined by Qantas.

However, the JetConnect pilots are paid up to 40% less than their Australian counterparts.

“Effectively Qantas is off shoring Trans Tasman flying via its offshoot Jetconnect. It is a deliberate strategy to drive down wages and conditions. There is not enough work for Qantas pilots to do in Australia while Qantas is hiving off work to its lowest cost franchise,” pilots’ union president Captain Barry Jackson says.

The pilots’ union wants to extend the award covering the pilots such that it covers any wholly-owned subsidiary. This would mean the JetConnect pilots would be paid the same as Australian pilots.

However, Qantas insists that JetConnect is a separate New Zealand-based company that employs New Zealand staff.

The case will be heard by the Full Bench of Fair Work Australia in a hearing that gets underway today.

The ACTU will argue that is should be allowed to join the case in support of the pilots on the basis that it could be an important test case in the controversial area of off shoring.

“This case may set a precedent on the use of artificial corporate arrangements to avoid award entitlements, and which precedent has the potential to affect the interests of all workers, including those represented by the ACTU.”