Fri, Nov 16, 2007
Union Spokeswoman Says Employees Are Sometimes Spit Upon,
Too
Things seems to be
getting a lot meaner at some airports. Customers waiting in line at
a Qantas Club ticket counter booed airline workers recently, when
the employees shut down check-in counters to assist an elderly
woman who collapsed in line.
Australian Services Union representative Julie Bignell told
News.com two staffers working the ticket counter at Brisbane
Airport closed their counters to come to the 80-year-old woman's
aid. Frustrated customers in line responded by booing the
employees.
"There were only half the number of check-in points operating
that morning because six staff had called in sick. The terminal was
packed with about 1000 people and no one could move. The public
didn't know what was going on," Bignell said.
The woman died. Medical personnel believe she suffered a heart
attack.
Disturbingly, Bignell says it's not uncommon for counter workers
to be harassed by passengers -- and we're not just talking about
frustrated customers sounding off for being stuck in a middle
seat.
She says check-in staffers are often booed, or even spat on when
they finish their shifts, and close their counters with customers
still in line.
"The Qantas terminal at Brisbane Airport is chronically
understaffed. We've been trying for two years to have staffing
levels improved, but they've actually decreased," she said, adding
over 90 staffers have left their jobs at Qantas terminals in
Brisbane since September 2006.
"It's extremely stressful for staff when they have such big
workloads, and now they've got people dying in the queues," she
said.
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