Qantas slammed for ‘wage theft’ after call for Christmas volunteers
There is not much Christmas cheer for Qantas from the public or its staff after the airline was slammed for being a Grinch.
It sent a communication to head office staff seeking ‘volunteers’ to man front-line positions during the busy holiday period.
That sparked a spate of disparaging social media posts from customers and anger from unions.
Netizens took to Twitter to vent at the airline which made almost $1 billion last year and paid CEO Alan Joyce $25 million.
The leaked memo said: "We are trialling a new volunteer program for out campus-based people to lend a hand to the front line."
Qantas defended the move, saying ‘it is not about cutting costs, this is about spreading a bit of Christmas cheer.’
The Australian Services Union saw it a different way, describing it as a ‘shocking display of corporate greed.’
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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