It comes after the government ended JobKeeper
Virgin Australia has issued a standdown notice to ground crew workers after the aviation industry was left reeling by the end of JobKeeper.
The Transport Workers Union has filed a claim with the Fair Work Commission over the notice sent to staff. Virgin Australia said it is aware of the claim in relation to 170 of its workers.
The union said 804 ground staff were sent an email confirming they had been stood down from March 29 to April 18 unless otherwise advised. However, a spokesperson for the airline said the majority of the ground staff affected are working close to their full hours. They denied the union's claim that all ground crew had been stood down.
"We are working hard to ramp up our flying to enable more hours and roster flexibility across our operational workforce. Since October 2020 Virgin Australia has been consulting and discussing its rostering practices with its workers and union representatives as border restrictions decrease," the spokesperson said.
"Prior to the tightened border restrictions put in place by some states earlier this week, it has been our intention to have all of our ground staff return to work in their pre-COVID capacity."
The email sent to staff confirms that stood down workers will not be required to work their usual hours and will not be paid. While JobKeeper was in action, those workers would have been renumerated through the scheme.
TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said the standing down of Virgin workers is a direct result of the Federal Government’s decision to kill Jobkeeper.
“The Prime Minister’s cheap flights plan turned out to be a cheap trick played on aviation workers. The Federal Government’s decision to cut off Jobkeeper has resulted in Virgin workers being stood down from their jobs,” he said.
“This disastrous move by Scott Morrison means domestic aviation workers have been cut adrift and Virgin workers are now worried sick about how they will pay their bills and feed their families.”
