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Katie Woolf spoke with Transport Workers Union SA NT Branch Secretary Ian Smith · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Very disappointingly. Yesterday we heard up to two thousand Quantas
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: ground crew, aircraft cleaners and baggage handlers are set to
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: lose their jobs, taking that total number of job losses
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: at the airline to well eight and a half thousand.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: And that is comparatively excuse me, to the twenty nine
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: thousand pre COVID workforce now joining me on the line
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: to talk more about this situation. From the Transport Workers
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Union South Australia MT Branch Secretary Ian Smith, Good morning Ian.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: Good morning CODI. How are you going?
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: Not too bad? Mate? Firstly you hear from South Australia.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: How are you finding the heat?
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: Well, that's Southerners. We're not used to watch you goys
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: have COMMDI. We've had some pretty hot weather down home
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: as well, but it's not the humidity. But anyway, Yeah,
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: it's been up in Darlen and the NT is a
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: very important part of our union. So I'm proud to
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: be up here. Yeah moaveny people.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Well, and you know what, I'm sure that there will
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: be plenty of those QUANTUS ground staff and others that
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: a please to have you here at the moment. We
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: heard yesterday that they are forging ahead with up to
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: two thousand Countas crew losing their jobs. How is that
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: going to impact us here in the territory.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: Well, our understanding, it's up to sixty five across the
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: whole territory. In Darlan itself, it's forty to fifty people minimen.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: There's some people were left already. But look, it's an Australian.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: The antics of quantas the spirit of Australia as despicable.
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: You know, absolutely aviation has been a halves hit with
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: this COVID period. But let's be quite frank, in Australia
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: we've done a magnificent job. And I take my head
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: off to the governments, to their health departments, everybody involved.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: How we've been out of such would control this virus.
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: So MESSI is the biggest Armorconis in Australia, always has been.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: That's where they started from, that's where their big revenue is.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: You know, we're seeing all the borders now start open
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: except Western Australia. Flighters starting to pick up, and Quanus
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: is actually saying Christmas, they've got back to profitability. Now.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: We had the Morrison government who are absolutely silent on this,
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: which is disgraceful in itself, but they're putting job keepers
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: so that these companies could keep the relationship with their employee.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: When things were turned back to the profitability or the
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: work picked up, they could re engage the workers workers
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: and we move on. We didn't lose the skill set,
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: which is crucial in this industry. They're not bad chucking,
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: They're not. They are very skilled people. They're not cleaners.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: They're very skilled cleaners that make sure those planes are
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: safe to fly off. They make sure as far as
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: the baggage handlers go to, the planes are loaded correctly.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: Our pets that travel in the valley of those planes
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: are loaded correctly. You only have to think, let's talk
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: about load transport, if the truck's not loaded correctly and
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: the loads trucks accidents ian the same think in face
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: for ECA, and it's despicable when a group of people
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: have been able to put using e Y, which is
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: a professional firm that has been able to put together
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: a competitive bid that is actually and we're getting told
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: it's probably cheaper so the other competitors so ian.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: At the moment, Sorry, if we can just get back
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: to the fact, so at the moment sixty five Territorians.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: So that is obviously baggy Chandler's ground staff in Alice
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: Springs and in Darwin. Have you met with those people
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: and what are they saying to you today.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: Well, what they're saying they want to keep their jobs.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: They don't want to lose the job. They built this company.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: They love working for kunas they've been through the bad
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: times and the good science and it becomes to you know,
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: to have the fact that they're allowed to put a
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: competitive bid in and get down with nitty gritty and
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: have the expertise to do that, and then to be
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: shoved the back in your faces. Sorry, thanks very much,
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: but it's not good when it is cheaper. That's what
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: we're told. It is competitive and this is idology and
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: then hiding behind COVID for making this decision ten years ago.
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: They got caught. They made this decision to get rid
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: of this. This is about profit, agreed, So its not
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: about what a piece Australian companies should be and what steps.
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: Is the Union going to be taking today. I understand
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: that you are going to be having a bit of
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: a rally, I guess you would call it today in
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: an effort to make sure that these workers' voices are heard.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, we will turn we will leave no stone unsand
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: as a union to represent our members and support our members.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: We've got a Senate inquiry. The good people of the
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: Senate have realized this decision as well, and they want
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: to hold into account and the government to account. We
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: need the federal government, the federal government to get off
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: their hands, get their take their head out of the
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: sand and tell Cornus this is not good enough. Take
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: a stake in the in this. We need a good
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: aviation sector. We need a safe aviation sector, and the
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: government should take a stake in that and not give
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: money to their mates. Quantus has been caught already warding
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: the job keeper system Broughting brought in and then they
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: come up with this decision. It's despicable, it's un Australian
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: and if they want to do the right thing, they
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: should be reversing their decision and keeping them well trained,
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: great employees, engaged and on board. And we go through
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: the and we go through the process and we make
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: the airline the great air one that it has always
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: been and will continue to be if they don't stop
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: cuting courtans well.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: And we are going to have to leave it there.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: I appreciate your time this morning, and yeah, I'm certainly
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: feeling for those workers today Transport Workers Union SAMT Branch
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: Secretary Ian Smith there, and we do know that they
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: are going to be well having that twelve pm meeting today.
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: Basically it'll be the reaction to Quantus outsourcing sixty five
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: territory and baggage ramp and cleaning workers. They have rejected
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: that competitive bid which was submitted, So yeah, i'll tell
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: you what you know, it is going to be a
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: really tough situation for those territory families, those territorians that
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: are impacted by this