Virgin Australia unions plan merger to impose Bain Capital’s cost-cutting demands
The Virgin Independent Pilots Association (VIPA) and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) confirmed this month that they will amalgamate the two unions by July, subject to a vote of pilots.
Both unions have been talking up the supposed benefits for pilots and other Virgin Australia workers of the merger, but it has nothing to do with defending the jobs and conditions of airline workers.
Its real purpose is to strengthen the capacity of the union bureaucracy to prevent any opposition to the ongoing restructuring drive by Virgin to drastically slash costs at workers’ expense. This has been the agenda implemented from day one by the airline’s new owners, US private equity firm Bain Capital.
Disclosure statement
Alex Veen is part of a research team that received a University of Sydney Business School Industry Partnership grant. Uber Technologies is a Partner Organisation on this grant and provided a minority financial contribution to the project. He further receives funding from the Australian Research Council in the form a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) for his project entitled Algorithmic management and the future of work: lessons from the gig economy.
Caleb Goods is part of a research team that received a University of Sydney Business School Industry Partnership grant. Uber Technologies is a Partner Organisation on this grant and provided a minority financial contribution to the project.
May 19, 2021
The fortunes of gig economy companies or what should more accurately be called the exploitation economy are going from bad to worse.
Yesterday, former Deliveroo rider Diego Franco, backed by the Transport Workers Union, won his unfair dismissal claim against the international company, with Fair Work Commissioner Ian Cambridge explicitly stating that Franco had an employment relationship with Deliveroo, not that of a contractor, and referred to the company’s “callous and perfunctory termination of his services”.
The wave of regulatory pushback against the exploitation industry continues to build around the world. The Spanish government has recently imposed new rules requiring companies to convert “contractors” to employees, following a court ruling last year. In the United States a fortnight ago, Biden administration labor secretary Marty Walsh warned “in a lot of cases gig workers should be classified as employees”, opening the way for the lab
The Fair Work Commission has found that Deliveroo riders are employees in a landmark ruling that could have huge implications for gig workers Jack Derwin The Fair Work Commission has found in favour of Diego Franco after he was dismissed by Deliveroo.
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has made a landmark ruling that could see a renewed push to recognising delivery riders as employees.
The FWC ruled on Tuesday that former Deliveroo rider Diego Franco was more akin to an employee than a contractor before he was dismissed for no valid reason .
Transport Workers Union (TWU) national secretary Michael Kaine said this ruling has huge implications for gig workers in Australia and we urge the Federal Government to look at it today and to start devising regulation now.