Vol. 78/No. 16      April 28, 2014

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce announced in February that 5,000 jobs would be slashed from a workforce of 33,000, following the biggest reported loss by the company since 1995.

Qantas has announced plans to wind back its aircraft maintenance operations and catering. Joyce also announced a wage freeze until the company reports a profit.

“We used to have five cleaners on each plane. Then the company tried to cut the teams to three,” said Aroha Fox, who has worked at Qantas for 18 years as a cleaner. “There were too many delays so they had to go back up to four.”

“Four is still not enough, especially on school holidays,” said Soulai Meintanis. “We have only 10 minutes to clean a 747 or a 767.” She said the company’s new “Smart Clean” program has meant that only business and first class sections of the planes get cleaned on domestic flights.

Cleaners are forced to work in temperatures of 30ºC (86ºF). Fox and Meintanis said they started as part-time workers before being made permanent. “Now,” Meintanis said, “workers are kept on part time for years and they are only guaranteed 20 hours a week.”  
 
 
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