Skydiving strike follows bid to hire 37 overseas instructors during pay talks
Union members who have not received a pay rise since 2022 have raised concerns after Experience Co moved to recruit overseas workers during ongoing wage negotiations. The company operates Skydive Australia at jump sites nationwide, from Cairns to St Kilda.
According to the Australian Workers’ Union, the company has applied to the federal government for access to 37 overseas workers. It has also proposed paying visa holders less than full-time employees while negotiations with local tandem skydiving instructors continue.
At the same time, the company has ended its local training program. The program previously supported Australians seeking to enter the skydiving industry as tandem instructors.
Unionised tandem skydiving instructors will take strike action from Friday morning, 20th February, until Monday night, 23rd February. The industrial action follows two days of strike activity in December and another two days last week.
The Australian Workers’ Union stated that the recruitment proposal undermines local jobs in the tourism sector. It has called on Experience Co to return to negotiations and halt its overseas recruitment efforts.
“During a cost-of-living crisis, our members are saying ‘let’s make a deal’ – but instead the company is suggesting that they should accept terms that would see a foreign labourer on a visa earning less for doing the same job,” said Jonathan Cook, AWU National Organiser.
He added, “We have current, local employees who want to be skydive instructors who are being grounded by an employer who’d rather bring in cheaper labour from overseas. It’s short-sighted and vindictive, and the AWU will be fiercely opposing the employer’s bid to the Department of Home Affairs.”
AWU National Secretary Paul Farrow also criticised the company’s approach.
“We have a major employer who has said they won’t train new staff and then go and apply for foreign labour instead. Now they are also saying they will also pay those visa workers less!” said Mr Farrow.
He further stated, “We have an immigration system that seemingly rolls out the red carpet to companies who want to bring in foreign labour to avoid investing in training local workers and current employees who want to do the job.”
“There’s no skills shortage here – just a desperate bid by an employer that is seemingly happy to cut off training and development for its own employees,” Mr Farrow said.
“Instead of having a system that lets bosses outsource their workforce, why don’t we have a system that rewards companies that train, develop and upskill their employees?”
Mr Cook said further strike action had become inevitable.
“Our members took 2 days of strike in December, 2 days of strike action last week and will now be on the grass for 4 more days to send the message – we want a deal that offers secure jobs, fair wage increases and safe workplaces,” he said.
He added, “What happened to ‘same job, same pay’? It seems to have a lot of loopholes if employers can use the government’s migration system to undercut their full-time Aussie employees.”
“It’s not a big ask, back your staff and don’t gamble on foreign workers just to save a few dollars. Our members aren’t asking for anything extreme – just a secure job that recognises the high-risk work they perform.”
