WORKER WAGES MUST BE PAID AS A PRIORITY: TWU TELLS BONZA ADMINISTRATORS

The TWU has called on Bonza’s administrators to explore every avenue to pay workers their wages as soon as possible, after staff were told they will not be paid for work done in April and are now stood down without pay.

Bonza workers can sign up for updates on the TWU’s website as the union seeks answers from Bonza’s administrators. The TWU was deeply involved in the administration process of Virgin Australia and has supported many road transport workers to access support after their employers became insolvent.

The union said the government’s Fair Entitlement Guarantee scheme may be a lifeline for workers if Bonza is insolvent, but they are currently stuck in limbo.

The TWU is calling for a Safe and Secure Skies Commission to stabilise aviation and prevent further jobs, skills and experience disappearing from the industry.

TWU National Assistant Secretary Emily McMillan said this is a disgraceful move from Bonza and a deeply distressing time for workers.

“The shock of Bonza falling into administration has barely subsided and workers are being forced to enter Centrelink queues. It’s appalling that Bonza has failed workers so spectacularly and that aviation workers are once again paying the price for a broken industry.

“These are hardworking people with bills to pay and families to feed. They are highly trained. This is a devastating blow and a cause for great worry in a cost-of-living crisis.

“Bonza’s administrators must strain every sinew to find the means to pay these workers urgently. There is no greater priority than this.

“Ansett’s collapse saw workers protest at airports for over 100 days to fight for entitlements they were owed. There is now a Fair Entitlement Guarantee scheme for workers to claim entitlements when their employer becomes insolvent, but the aviation industry has not changed with more of the same chaos and destruction. Passengers have lost confidence in air travel and workers have been burnt too many times by this industry to stick around.

“Aviation has spiralled out of control. While Qantas rakes in $3.72 billion profits in 18 months, and the four biggest airports made $1.7 billion last year, the workers getting planes safely off the ground are ripped off wages for work they’ve done. This has got to change. We need a Safe and Secure Skies Commission to set standards in aviation, end the corporate greed that has torn apart this industry and get good, secure jobs back into our airports,” she said.