Labour hire workers at airline Jetstar are paid less than directly employed workers, labour union TWU Australia said on 13 August.  The union filed two Same Job Same Pay applications to Australia’s Fair Work Commission against Jetstar, as well as airline and labour hire firm Altara, the union said on its website.

The union said some contingent cabin crew have base pay of slightly over AUD 50,000 (USD 33,139). Successful applications could result in a pay rise of AUD 10,000 (USD 6,628) for workers who receive the lowest pay. Some internationally based crews make as little as AUD 2 (USD 1.33) per hour, the union said.

Jetstar is a low-cost airline based in Melbourne and is owned by the Qantas Group.

Jetstar told SIA in an emailed response to questions that it did not have a statement regarding the union’s allegations.

Altara’s workforce is a casual workforce, a source close to the matter told SIA, adding that directly employed cabin crew are full-time or part-time. The union’s statement that internationally based crews make as little as AUD 2 per hour were not correct, the source told SIA.

Senator Murray Watt, Australia’s minister for employment and workplace, commented about the matter. “Jetstar flight attendants who are employed as labour hire do the same work as Jetstar’s direct employees but are paid much less,” Watt wrote in the post. “Thanks to Labor’s same job, same pay laws, these workers & their unions can right this wrong.”