Airport bag handling video

[jase05]

All these comments about minimum wage, getting what you paid for, are a bit out of touch with the current workplace situation.
take Optometry chain stores, the assistants are all retail workers on minimum wage. They're in there running tests on peoples eyes, working out the positioning of prescriptions in frames, etc. - doing lots of technical work. $20-$25 per hour. Do people expect their glasses to improve their vision?

Yep and I once did 180 hours in a fortnight.
But again, that's not the point. You don't work 70 hours every week, ever year; with the mill owner giving you 3 hours off to go to church on Sunday morning. What you choose to do is very different from the base conditions that unions have won for the entire workforce.
The unions have even won the right for you to negotiate your own conditions. But then someone in the situation of being able to negotiate their conditions is working in a very different space. I'm sure you also have a safe workplace. Again thanks to unions.

It's tiresome for people to bash unions when they're benefitting from the power of unions developed over the last 150 odd years.

Unions may have been good many years ago but like the dinosaurs they have well and truly passed their use by date. The current unions are nothing like the ones that did good years ago and if they did we wouldn’t be where we are now. No doubt some unions still provide a good service but the TWU are absolute scum and thankfully we treat them with the disdain they deserve

 

[TheRealTMA]

Shock As Workers Treated Like Garbage Perform Like Garbage

More to come.

www.betootaadvocate.com

 

[Vic]

Yeah, there's no need for unions today...

Sarah moved to Australia to support her family. Instead, she was working six days for $10 an hour

Sarah is among thousands of migrant workers accepting jobs below the minimum legal rate, as a survey by Unions NSW finds more than half of job ads written in foreign languages are breaking the law.

www.abc.net.au

 

[jase05]

Yeah, there's no need for unions today...

Sarah moved to Australia to support her family. Instead, she was working six days for $10 an hour

Sarah is among thousands of migrant workers accepting jobs below the minimum legal rate, as a survey by Unions NSW finds more than half of job ads written in foreign languages are breaking the law.

www.abc.net.au

Gee, I wonder why their members are deserting droves and union memberships are at an all time low. And again I’m talking about the TWU which is what this topic relates to. I hope Qantas are paying absolutely no attention to anything the TWU grubs are saying

 

[Vic]

Gee, I wonder why their members are deserting droves and union memberships are at an all time low. And again I’m talking about the TWU which is what this topic relates to. I hope Qantas are paying absolutely no attention to anything the TWU grubs are saying

I'm sorry that you cannot accept the benefits of unions. I'm always aware of the fact that employers will do anything to save a buck if they can. I hope your TWU issue doesn't weight you down too much...

 

[clifford]

the TWU are absolute scum

I'm no huge supporter of this union (or any other), but are they any worse than the Qantas board or senior management? Similar outlook on life.

Just need to get a sense of perspective and....

 

[Quickstatus]

Consider the kind of poor wage these folks would be on and the stress to get things done quickly to meet deadlines etc with less staff. I do not defend them in any way but I can bet these kinds of pressures and long shifts result in this kind of behaviour.

I wound defend them for exactly those reasons. There is a big reason why there was a change in government. People are over persistent poor wages while management makes the megabucks - hence the return to multi employer wage bargaining

 

[JohnK]

All these comments about minimum wage, getting what you paid for, are a bit out of touch with the current workplace situation.
take Optometry chain stores, the assistants are all retail workers on minimum wage. They're in there running tests on peoples eyes, working out the positioning of prescriptions in frames, etc. - doing lots of technical work. $20-$25 per hour. Do people expect their glasses to improve their vision?

I do get my glasses at Specsavers and I'd be extremely concerned if the glasses I purchased do not do their job properly.

What the staff are getting paid should not really be relevant in regards to service? If management thinks they can get away paying low wages

By the way I do not agree with low wages while executives salaries are out of control. Qantas made huge mistake managing the pandemic. They should have kept every front line staff, every pilot, every call centre consultant and let go of every single executive.

Now they are in a mess and cannot fill the specialist positions and the executive team are gunning for huge bonuses. Sad world we live in.

 

[Vic]

I do get my glasses at Specsavers and I'd be extremely concerned if the glasses I purchased do not do their job properly.

What the staff are getting paid should not really be relevant in regards to service? If management thinks they can get away paying low wages

By the way I do not agree with low wages while executives salaries are out of control. Qantas made huge mistake managing the pandemic. They should have kept every front line staff, every pilot, every call centre consultant and let go of every single executive.

Now they are in a mess and cannot fill the specialist positions and the executive team are gunning for huge bonuses. Sad world we live in.

Agree about executive pay.

I also agree that paying people $20 an hour is not an excuse for them to not do their job or not providing the service.

I'm just wondering if, in general, people would say pay "peanuts get monkeys" if their glasses didn't work. Certainly, knowing optical physics is more highly skilled than lifting bags and yet they get the same pay...

 

[JohnK]

Agree about executive pay.

I also agree that paying people $20 an hour is not an excuse for them to not do their job or not providing the service.

I'm just wondering if, in general, people would say pay "peanuts get monkeys" if their glasses didn't work. Certainly, knowing optical physics is more highly skilled than lifting bags and yet they get the same pay...

I agree but I think we know that pay has not been fair for a long long time.

I really struggle to understand executive salaries. And seems to be these salaries are going up way above inflation and supported by boards of directors made up of people on executive salaries.

The people at the bottom work hard and the people at the top enjoy the benefits. Doesn't seem fair does it?

 

[lovestotravel]

All these comments about minimum wage, getting what you paid for, are a bit out of touch with the current workplace situation.
take Optometry chain stores, the assistants are all retail workers on minimum wage. They're in there running tests on peoples eyes, working out the positioning of prescriptions in frames, etc. - doing lots of technical work. $20-$25 per hour. Do people expect their glasses to improve their vision?

No it's always been relevant and even more so now.

People were not really happy working for min wage before and are even less happy now.

Do you mean the salespeople at Specsavers who simply hand over glasses or the actual trained optometrists who do the tests.....

Either way pay peanuts get monkeys

Hence the massive staff issues at Virgin with the newish EBA

Pay you staff properly, get decent staff and retain them, very simple stuff

 

[Vic]

No it's always been relevant and even more so now.

People were not really happy working for min wage before and are even less happy now.

Do you mean the salespeople at Specsavers who simply hand over glasses or the actual trained optometrists who do the tests.....

Either way pay peanuts get monkeys

Hence the massive staff issues at Virgin with the newish EBA

Pay you staff properly, get decent staff and retain them, very simple stuff

I did not mention specsavers... I did not specify any particular company.

You clearly don't know the work they have to do. They sure AF don't just hand over glasses.
Pre-testing for a start. Air puff tonomoy, visual fields testing, autorefraction etc. All done by those "salespeople"

Hand over glasses - NO!. You get multi focal - the retail sales people will measure you up to make sure the various zones are in the right place. Get them level etc.

To say these are people who just hand over glasses is pretty disrespectful and demonstrates a lack of knowledge about what they're actually doing.

 

[infrequent_jim]

Rough handling of luggage has been going on for years. Those of us who wait in the gate lounge can often watch bags being thrown onto the loading conveyor belts. Surely it doesn't take any longer to place the bags carefully, and it certainly takes less physical effort.

 

[monkeyboi]

Baggage abuse is nothing new at Qantas. When I was flying far more frequently prior to the pandemic it was easy to see the tarmac at Perth T3 from the Qantas Club lounge. You'd often see customers' luggage getting thrown around during loading and unloading of aircraft. I'm quite sure these baggage "handlers" are well aware that passengers can actually see from this vantage point what was happening to their luggage and other cargo but ground staff would abuse it anyway. Similar incidents were seen by myself and other passengers at some regional airports where the staff albeit wearing Qantas uniforms were local contractors.

We all have bad hairdo days, but it's no excuse to mistreat passengers' baggage. In the video one can clearly see one handler holding a elevating a suitcase above his head and forcibly slamming onto the conveyer belt. If this worker desperately needs a workout I suggest he joins a gym where he can expend his excess energy.

I'm pretty disappointed that it takes video evidence like that shown and a public outcry for Qantas and its contactor Swiss Port to take action.

 

[ThePointyEnd]

That's terrifying to watch as someone who is about to check a bag to Melbourne. I think I might see if I can squeeze it all into carry-on instead.

One of the bags is even thrown so hard it misses the belt and falls over the edge on the other side around 0:40.

That happens to three bags in total. I thought the worst part was seeing bags lifted up in order to hurl them at the conveyor.

 

[blaz]

This wasn't just sloppy behaviour, but deliberately destructive. It looked like they would be very happy if they contained something breakable within them.

 

[malwcal]

How the hell is anyone justifying the guy who lifted a bag above his head (which is bad from a OH&S perspective!) and slamming it down?

They are paid peanuts, so you have to expect that the only people who will do the job are psychopaths who make up for the lack of pay by the enjoyment they get from criminal damage???

Yes careless handling is a huge problem. Yes, that is in part due to the poor rate these people are paid.

But: it is not acceptable. And deliberate damage even more so. If this type of thing is uncovered it should be reported and all involved (airlines, outsourced workforce, individual workers) should face the consequences.

 

[kyle]

And they are gone https://www.news.com.au/travel/trav...e/news-story/672287b7edf64ae7fc1bedc102dd4f9a

 

[nutwood]

I do get my glasses at Specsavers and I'd be extremely concerned if the glasses I purchased do not do their job properly.

What the staff are getting paid should not really be relevant in regards to service? If management thinks they can get away paying low wages

By the way I do not agree with low wages while executives salaries are out of control. Qantas made huge mistake managing the pandemic. They should have kept every front line staff, every pilot, every call centre consultant and let go of every single executive.

Now they are in a mess and cannot fill the specialist positions and the executive team are gunning for huge bonuses. Sad world we live in.

There was a point I appreciated many years ago. Historically, when invaders crashed into a city and killed all of one gender and raped the other, the people they didn't touch were those with skills. Stone masons, carpenters etc.
Currently, most of non-corporate Australia realises that people who can actually do something are in a shortage. Corporate Australia is slowly catching up. Doesn't matter how much you pay the CEO, when you need to move luggage, you need workers with the right attitude.

 

[JohnK]

Currently, most of non-corporate Australia realises that people who can actually do something are in a shortage. Corporate Australia is slowly catching up. Doesn't matter how much you pay the CEO, when you need to move luggage, you need workers with the right attitude.

If that is true that would be fantastic but are they catching up?

In my eye Qantas is all about Joyce and the executive team and how much bonus they will get because they've done a good job.

They've done an awful job. If any clerk or worker at the bottom performed the same way they'd be out of a job.

So why are CEOs and executives judged on share price? Let's forget cancellation issues. Let's forget about catering issues. Let's forget lack of awards and poor management of award bookings. Let's forget about call centres and lack of customer service.

Let's reward the CEO and executive team for running service to the ground.