A report showing poor working conditions are affecting safety and security in air transport has been released by the International Transport Workers’ Federation.
The report shows that a high turnover of lowly-paid, poorly-trained and inexperienced staff leads to less vigilance on security risks and safety hazards.
Sydney International Airport, in particular, was singled out as a location where “at any one time there are hundreds of workers with a temporary pass, those who have not yet had background security checks”.
The reports adds:
- Average weekly wages across the airport operations industry worldwide did not keep up with inflation, but fell in real terms by 14% from 1991 to 2011.
- Baggage handlers saw their average hourly wages drop by 45% between 2002 and 2012, while the number of jobs in the area which were subcontracted more than tripled – from 25% to 84%
- By 2012, even the highest paid subcontracted workers in these ground-based airport occupations earned less in real terms than the average directly-hired worker in the same job a decade ago.