Over 50 aviation workers will protest today at Sydney Airport's International terminal over the airport's refusal to provide job security to security workers at Certis whose contracts expire in 2026.
The TWU met with Sydney Airport in October and raised job security concerns over a potential change in contract provider, with no safeguards for workers to protect against pay and conditions going backwards in the event of a new provider.
Job insecurity in aviation has reached crisis levels with contracts frequently given to cheaper bidders, including Qantas' illegal outsourcing of over 1800 workers to companies like Swissport with appalling records on safety, pay and conditions.
The TWU is calling on Sydney Airport to make assurances to Certis workers that they will maintain their job security, pay and conditions regardless of changing contracts.
In 2023-24, Sydney Airport reported its highest ever aeronautical profit of $570 million, 127% higher than a year earlier and 18% above pre-pandemic profits. An ACCC report said "An airport not constrained by competition or regulation could be expected to exercise its market power to earn monopoly profit."
In the TWU's survey of over 2000 aviation workers, 52% of security workers had been told that their job security was under threat due to contract changes.
The TWU is also calling on the Federal Government to put in place a Safe and Secure Skies Commission to stop the race to the bottom on standards and ensure the aviation industry works in the interests of workers and the public.
One security worker said:
"Told by current employer that we had to reapply for our jobs due to contract change. Just because you have been here 10 or more years doesn't mean you have a job with us."
TWU NSW State Secretary Richard Olsen said:
"Security workers should not have to worry about whether they'll keep their jobs or their conditions every time a contract changes hands.
"The race to the bottom on standards in aviation has led to worse conditions, the casualisation of the workforce, less job security, and plummeting service for the travelling public.
"Sydney Airport has a responsibility here to ensure that there are good, secure jobs for security workers. A whole-of-supply-chain effort is needed to reverse the damage done by decades of cuts and fragmentation in this industry."
TWU NSW Assistant-State Secretary Nick McIntosh said:
"The TWU has fought relentlessly to achieve serious wins for aviation workers, but make no mistake - this industry is still in crisis.
"Only the implementation of a Safe and Secure Skies Commission will see this industry become truly fair. Aviation desperately requires reform, consultation, and good-faith governance from the clients down."
TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said:
"Aviation used to be an industry of lifetime careers, but has become a revolving door because the pay, conditions and job security have been decimated by executive cost-cutting.
"Everyone who's paid sky-high fees to park at Sydney Airport knows that it uses its almost limitless commercial power to extract exorbitant profits. Instead it needs to wield that power for the benefit of workers and the flying public by ensuring jobs are safe, secure and well paid.
"We need a Safe and Secure Skies Commission to return the focus to good standards and jobs, instead of the only metric being how much you can squeeze out of a contract to reduce costs."
