Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Transport Workers Union NT Secretary Ian Smith says the taxi shortage in Darwin is in part to the fact it has become insecure work

Transcript

Transport Workers Union NT Secretary Ian Smith says the taxi shortage in Darwin is in part to the fact it has become insecure work · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: But we know that if you've been out to the
• 0:01
  Speaker 1: airport recently, or really if you are trying to get
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: around anywhere at this point, it's pretty difficult to get
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: a taxi. Certainly a number of complaints to people who
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: have arrived into the Northern Territory and waiting for quite
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: a long period of time in some instances to be
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: able to get a cab from the airport. Now, joining
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: me on the line to talk a little bit more
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: about the situation from the Transport Workers Union Secretary Ian Smith,
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Good morning to you.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Ian. Good morning caddie. There you going, Yeah, not.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Too bad now, Ian, what do you know of this
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: shortage of taxis at this point? I.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: Well, it's really got to do a lot to do
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: with the pandemic that we've gone through. It's a bit
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: the same as what we're saying with airports and everything,
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: that taxi driving and all those sort of positions have
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: become what they call insecure work. It's not full time
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: in most cases, it's not well paid. So as we've
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: come out of the pandemic, those jobs haven't been filled.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: And also, you know there's a fair proportion, especially in
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: taxi work, that it has been international students that have
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: come over, they use it. It's top up pay for
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: them to survive while they're studying. So that's all had
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: an impact. And you know, there was no protection for
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: these people potentially with job keeper or anything like that
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: during the pandemic. So you know, naturally if there's no income,
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: they've just just fallen out of industry and they found
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: other jobs that are probably better paying. So you know,
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: we have a problem. Hopefully it starts to address itself
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: with international students and all starting to come back into
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: the system. But you know, long that's long term. Short term,
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: there's going to be a real problem.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it is hard, isn't it. And you know, in
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: some instances there's reports that people are waiting for an
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: extended period of time, you know, if they're out there
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: at the air for example, trying to get to their
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: hotels depending on what time their flights come in. But
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: you touched on another point that's an interesting one, and
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: that is some of the shortages that we're seeing at
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: airports too. And we know that as we edge into
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: the school holidays next week, in some airports, says saying
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: that there's going to be delays due to a lack
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: of workers there.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: Absolutely and look that's what's occurred throughout that sector is
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: absolutely disgraceful. The previous government when they introduced job keeper.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: Remember what job keeper was about was about keeping the
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: employment relationship together with the employer so that when we
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: came out of the pandemic, those jobs will be there
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: and they could you know, life wilgo on as it
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: was before. Now we've got to remember the security screen
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: at any airport just can't jump behind a machine and
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: be qualified just to screen or luggage. It takes time
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: and there's a level of a license that they have
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: to attain a baggage handler. Right, people might think it's
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: just putting baggages on plane, it's not matter. It's about
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: making sure planes are stacked correctly, a loaded properly so
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: that luggage doesn't shift, that has put in the right days,
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: is put on the right planes, all those sort of things.
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  Speaker 2: And we had two occurrences that the previous liberal government
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  Speaker 2: didn't do the right thing about job keepers. So all
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: the security screeners, all the cleaners, or the small airline
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  Speaker 2: companies because they are internationally owned butt nothing. So those
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: people left the industry. Because I've had to survive and
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: they hadn't come back and we are struggling, And then
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: we had finers that decided they got job keeper and
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: then decided to sack two thousand workers, you know, so
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: which that well twice now has been proved to be illegal,
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  Speaker 2: and they were actual qualified people and they bought workers
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: at lower rates of income. So it becomes a structure
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: in the sector that people don't want to work there
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: because there's no job security.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: And do you reckon this? Do you think that we
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: are going to see significant delays around the nation at
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: our airports, you know from next week when those school
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: holidays start. I know that the school holidays do have
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: different starting points depending on what state you're in.
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: Well, certainly in the major airports, that's the case now,
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: so that with the influx of more passengers, it's only
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: going to get worse. I know in Adelaide on Monday
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: there was major delays through security and that was just
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: because they had three people called it sick. Now, now
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  Speaker 2: that's pretty unacceptable that. You know, the big females of
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: the airport are the major airlines and the airport that
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: our companies and own airports who over the last ten
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: to fifteen years have made multi billion dollar profits. It's
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: about time they started to put some of that money
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  Speaker 2: back and support, support the workers, and get people trained
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: so that the traveling public can number one, get to
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  Speaker 2: their planes, but number two make sure they do it safe.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: And companies like Quantas need to be held to account.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: And really is the Quantus that fix this issue to borrow.
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  Speaker 2: There's a great proportion of those two thousand workers that
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: don't have jobs. They could bring them all up and
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: say hey, we want you back again, and they could
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: start tomorrow and then Quantas is our major carrier, would
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: not have issues I had. There's some stories that during
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: that long weekend that they sent a full plane of baggage,
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: just the baggage up to prison from Milk. They have
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: it all up and they didn't have the stuff. So goodness,
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: pretty serious and what's going on. And we've seen incidences
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: and some of that's been in territory where and it's
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  Speaker 2: not the baggage channeler's faults that are working there now
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: where they've damaged brains because lack of train number one,
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  Speaker 2: lack of experience, you know, so you know, someone has
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: to be held for account for these decisions. So we've
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: held one Partied accountcause we don't have the little party
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: in power anymore, and we've got some. The next part
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: is the companies that control the airport should be held
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  Speaker 2: to account and this is.
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: One of them, Transport Bokers Union Secretary Ian Smith. We
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: appreciate your time this morning. Thanks very much for having
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: a chat with us.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: Thank you.