Australia’s busiest air route between Sydney and Melbourne will face severe delays unless ISS Facility Services (ISS) and Melbourne Airport act quickly to come up with a just offer for security screeners at the airport.
Around 700 screeners and other airport security workers that work for Danish-based, multi-billion-dollar facilities management giant ISS will take protected strike action from 6am to 8:30am on Monday, September 2, a peak time for business travel between Australia’s largest cities.
The United Workers Union is notifying ISS later today (EDS: Friday) about the 2.5 hour stoppage after workers last month overwhelmingly supported taking industrial action in the face of ISS’s refusal to offer a reasonable deal.
UWU members taking part in the action are seeking a pay rise which would go some way to addressing enormous pressure they face in the cost-of-living crisis and increasing housing costs.
In a recent survey of around 400 screeners at Melbourne Airport, 92 percent of those who had a mortgage said they were experiencing financial stress and 83 percent of those renting said they had received a rental increase in the preceding two years.
United Workers Union property services director Lyndal Ryan said the workers who kept our skies safe deserved a wage increase that was in line with the critical responsibilities of the role.
“According to ASIO, security screeners are working under a heightened terror level so the pressure to keep travellers safe is higher than ever,” Ryan said.
“I’m not sure about you, but I’d be more comfortable knowing that the people who are responsible for keeping dangerous goods off the plane aren’t worried about how they’re going to pay their next mortgage repayment.
“United Workers Union airport security workers never take industrial action lightly.
“But workers feel they are being forced to take action because the offer from ISS simply does not reflect the financial realities of putting a roof over your head in Melbourne.
“These workers have faced wage freezes and they work throughout the airport’s 24-hour operations. On top of that they are paid no penalty rates at nights and weekends while working at unsocial hours, with a considerable impact on their own family life.
“ISS and the decision makers at Melbourne Airport are both profitable entities and rather than force these dedicated workers to the edge they could return with an offer that properly recognises the work they do.”
Members at the airport are continuing to take industrial action in the form of uniform bans and 15-minute stoppages, they retain their right to take further industrial action and more protracted strike action in the event a resolution isn’t reached.