Virgin should be paying the full $750 a week ‘Domestic Retention Payment’ to its workers

Since the Federal Government’s announcement that new payments would be available for domestic airline workers, we have been working with Virgin and the Government to understand:

• Eligibility for the new payments
• How the payments will be paid
• How they interact with other payments

This week Virgin advised us that, unlike other airlines, they did not intend to pass on the full $750 a week payment to employees affected by a loss of hours. We think this is really unfair and immediately wrote to the Government to seek urgent clarification that the new payments of $750 a week should be passed on in full to employees. We are still waiting for this clarification.

EOI now open – until 9am Monday – but more information is needed!

Virgin has opened its EOI process, but it is only open until 9am Monday morning. We have told Virgin that we think the options are confusing for employees and people need more time to make a decision. Details of the options have been made available by Virgin.

We have asked a lot of questions of Virgin about their proposals and will report back to members as soon as we get some answers.

Our advice to members is that if you are unsure, you should not submit an EOI. You may end up being paid only $450-550 a week yet still be required to be on call for your shifts at 48 hours’ notice.

If you have any questions please contact your delegate or organiser and we will try to get some answers from Virgin.

Send this bulletin to anyone you know who isn’t in the ASU. They can join at www.asu.asn.au/ASUJOIN.

Speak to your organiser for more information:

ASU Organisers: