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.

FMI: www.qantas.com