Aerocare appear to be going to great lengths to blame the Unions for you not receiving a pay rise. The fact is that the Fair Work Commission found that the proposed Aerocare EBA was not compliant with the minimum legal framework and Award minimums that an EBA is required to meet.
What’s stopping Aerocare from giving us a pay increase now?
The short answer is, NOTHING!
There is absolutely nothing stopping Aerocare from giving you a pay rise now.
Your current EBA only contains the minimum rates that Aerocare have to pay you. Aerocare can at any time pay higher rates of pay and/or offer better conditions than the EBA if it so chooses, don’t be fooled by the spin.
Making your agreement Award compliant
Aerocare have suggested that you should be concerned about going onto the Award because you would be worse off.
There is nothing stopping Aerocare doing an EBA;
- that is reflective of the Award conditions that ensures you get the minimum legal requirements
- that offers you fair and reasonable annual pay increases.
- that ensures you are paid at least what you currently are.
What is the standard across the airline industry?
- No split shifts
- Paid meal breaks
- Penalty rates that include;
- Double time for all time worked on a Sunday or public holiday (200%)
- Time and a half for all time worked on a Saturday (150%)
- Time and a half for the first 2 hours of overtime and then double time for all hours after that
- Double time if required to work a second shift (split shift)
- Overtime paid if you come to work on a day off
- 22.5% penalty rate if you work past midnight or start before 4am (payable for entire shift, not just the hours after midnight or before 4am)
- 15% loading if you start after 4am but before 7am (payable for entire shift)
- 15% loading if you finish after 6pm (payable for the entire shift)
- Annual leave loading of at least 17.5% when you take annual leave
- Guaranteed Hours
- Higher duties so that you get paid more when doing a higher level position (even if it’s only for a part of your shift you get the higher rate of pay for your entire shift)
- The list goes on, there are many other benefits both in the Award and across many other EBA’s within the airline industry. All you need to do is to talk to your airport colleagues to see that they are considerably better off than you.
A few facts
- Car parking - Aerocare tried to infer to the FWC that employee car parking holds a value of up to $55 per day to an employee so therefore they don’t need to pay you higher wages. We know for a fact that employee parking is a fraction of this amount.
- The Fair Work Commission itself wrote a list of its concerns regarding the proposed EBA that was 51 pages long! (well before the unions took the case to a full hearing)
- The Fair Work Commission found that the proposed Aerocare EBA was not compliant with the minimum legal framework and Award minimums that an EBA is required to meet.
- Split shifts are not the norm in the airline industry.
- Aerocare has stated “existing competitor agreements ... provide for a broken shift”
- Aerocare only named one company with an agreement that contained split (or broken) shifts, that company is Skystar.
- Skystar have 1 agreement in Perth that contains split shifts, it is important to note that no split shifts are worked under this agreement even though there is technically the ability to do so.
- The other 4 agreements effectively employ 1 man and a dog in remote outback regional ports such as the goldfields and Gove. The employees pay rates in these agreements is also significantly higher than the Aerocare EBA
- Aerocare in its own witness statements operate in 26 airports to 31 client airlines around the country. Ask yourself, is an operator at Gove airport, or fly in fly out operators at the gold fields/mines really a competitor or threat to Aerocare?
Don’t believe the spin!
Check the facts, speak to your airline colleagues in other ground handlers or airlines and ask them what their conditions are like.
The unions are only interested in ensuring that you receive the remuneration that you deserve, are entitled to, and that meets the industry standard.
We make no secret of the fact that we believe that employees should be paid fairly and equitably across the industry, not to be used as pawns in a race to the bottom for people that can’t afford to go backwards.
More information
If you have questions or queries make sure you contact your local ASU representative. Download the full bulletin here for contact details 
Aerocare Bulletin - 13 September 2017
To join the ASU, you can join online now at our secure form: www.asu.asn.au/asujoin