Media Release

Last night’s ABC 730 expose revealed the worker conditions and safety of Aerocare baggage handlers at Sydney Airport, with footage of workers sleeping next to the baggage carousels, in images more synonymous with third world countries. The revelations clearly demonstrate why KAP Member for Kennedy, Bob Katter advocates the need for unions in Australia today – to protect our pay and conditions.
730 reports Aerocare employees sleep beside carousels and on concrete floors among rat droppings and rubbish to work the split shifts. Split shifts can be as little as three hours, so employees can sometimes spend up to 15 hours at the airport for only six or nine hours work.
Aerocare operates in airports all over Australia, most capital cities and key central and Nth Queensland airports including Mount Isa, Mackay, Emerald, Carins, Bundaberg, Townsville and Rockhampton.
Mr Katter said, “We no longer have a civilised society, we have a greed machine that runs everything. I’m no socialist. I love people who make money; I love to make money myself. In the past I was an entrepreneur, but at all times the pursuit is to make society better, to make ourselves better not to hurt others.
“I am absolutely horrified that scenes from the Sydney Airport will be replicated all over Australia.
“I speak in great praise of Tony Sheldon and the Transport Workers Union (TWU). There have been times I have disagreed with them very strongly on issues, but sometime they get it dead right. This is one issue where the TWU deserves the highest of praise.
“The TWU is dead right here and we plead with people to realise the necessity of unionism and this is a perfect case to demonstrate that… we can’t trust employers to always do the right thing.
“This is horrific. These scenes… people sleeping between 3 hr shifts on dirty concrete floors with grubby sheets surrounded by filth and this is their place of work. This is absolutely appalling. These are third-world conditions being imposed on people upon who we depend in some part of the security of our aircraft.
“The greatest irony here is the company that is allegedly employing these people is called ‘Aerocare’, a classic oxymoron.”
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