ASU Delegates and Staff met with Qantas management to discuss the proposed sale of QCatering and to ask further questions. We have told Qantas that they need to show some respect for staff and start answering questions about the future of Qantas Catering. Staff need detail so they can make plans and seek advice.
Qantas have answered some questions.
Superannuation
Qantas Superannuation representatives will be briefing staff over the next few weeks. ASU representatives will meet with Qantas management and representatives from the Qantas Superannuation to discuss the detail of the transfer to the new fund.
Staff Travel
ASU members are asking for a fair deal for staff travel. The company says it is considering a better offer regarding priority and LSL trips. This may not address all concerns, so the ASU will continue fighting for a better deal.
Qantas staff travel representatives will be briefing staff over the next few weeks.
QCL Employees
Qantas says there will be no redundancies offered to QCL employees.
Until the sale, QCL employees will be able to seek other employment within the company. Job swap opportunities will remain open if there are any takers. They are refusing priority for QCL employees. We have asked them to make arrangements so that people can apply for Qantas jobs after the date of sale and still be treated as ‘internal’ applicants. We have also asked if they can make arrangements for people who get Qantas jobs within a grace period to maintain travel and superannuation benefits as if they had never left.
QAL Employees
As said previously, 20 QAL Employees will be offered jobs at DNATA immediately. Qantas IR cannot give us an updated list of jobs that will be offered to QAL employees during the transition period. During the transition period, QAL employees providing transitional services will have a solid line to Qantas Management and a dotted line to DNATA.
QAL employees with 100% catering focused jobs will either be offered jobs at DNATA or redeployment within Qantas.
They have given us the following information regarding the QAL employees with roles that are less than 100% catering.
- Safety: 6 Safety Roles (2 in Sydney, 2 in Brisbane and 2 in Melbourne) at SPG2 are 33% catering focused.
- Property: 2 Property SPG2 roles (1 in Sydney and 1 in Melbourne) are 30% catering focused.
- Finance: 4 L5s are 90% catering focused, 1 L7 is 70% catering focused and 1 SPG1 is 70% catering focused (all in Sydney).
- IT: 1 SPG2 (Sydney) is 50% catering focused.
These roles will be refocused within the business. If redundancies are required because there isn’t enough work, Qantas seek EOIs for voluntary redundancies available to all employees in the affected business area. QAL Employees with catering focused roles will not be targeted for redundancy.
We have asked Qantas to confirm that QAL Employees transferring to DNATA will be employees of QCatering or if they will be employed by another DNATA company. We have also asked for longer redeployment periods for QAL employees.
Employees in non-substantive roles
We have asked Qantas to review the Qantas Catering employees on secondments from other agreements and working higher duties. We have asked them to convert people in long-term non-substantive roles to permanent positions before the sale goes through.
If you have a non-substantive position, speak to your organiser as soon as possible.
What next?
The ASU will continue to meet with Qantas to push for a fair deal for all Qantas Catering employees when the sale to DNATA goes through. We will also be meeting with DNATA to discuss the future and seek guarantees about your pay, conditions and job security.
Never too late to join the ASU
If you are not a member of the ASU you can join online at www.asujoin.asn.au
Got any questions?
Speak to your organiser for more information. (download the full bulletin below for details)
Qantas Bulletin 10 May 2018.