Issue No 9 | 16 April 1999 | |
NewsQantas to Dump Aussie Accents
Australia's national airline has begun recruiting cabin crew from abroad, threatening to send hundreds of sought after jobs to low-wage countries like Thailand and New Zealand.
The Flight Attendants Association say Qantas announced they would set up a Thai recruiting base this week through one of its key advertisers, Channel Nine, without any consultation with staff. While this is a breach of the enterprise agreement consultation clause, the union is more worried about the job prospects for young Australians wanting to work as flight attendants. FAAA industrial officer Marie Irwin says the decision is all about cost-cutting, but warns Qantas it is risking its status as an Australian icon in the process. "Qantas markets its Australian identity in its advertising and Australians have responded with loyalty to their national carrier," Irwin says. "The company has replied by cutting Australian jobs." While Qantas argues it is hiring in Thailand because of the need for more ethnically diverse cabin crew, the FAAA says this ignores the diversity of contemporary Australian society. "There is no need to look for Thai speakers abroad, there are high language skills amongst young Australians and, anyway, only one per cent of Qantas' passengers are Thais," Irwin says. "A lot of young Australians dream of a career with Qantas. It is disappointing that the company is destroying there opportunities and deserting the unemployed." And while the focus is initially on recruiting Thai nationals, the FAAA understands Qantas will also target New Zealand where labour market deregulation has turned that country into another low-wage ghetto. "The New Zealand option is even more concerning because the proposition here is to replace Australians with other English speakers." The FAAA also questions what they see as the cost-cutting exercise given that Qantas made a $305 million profit last financial year and has already increased this be 30 per cent so far this year.
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