The Australian Services Union today filed six (6) complaints in the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Commission.

Six women, several of whom have been forced to resign their employment, said that Qantas has discriminated against them on the basis of their family responsibilities after reneging on well-established practices to allow women to return to work four days a week.

The women say they were promised the arrangements prior to their return to work after maternity leave, but then told they would have to work five days a week. They also said that their rostering has become increasingly unpredictable; making childcare arrangements so expensive and difficult to manage that employment is becoming unviable.

ASU Secretary Julie Bignell said, "It is a great disappointment to these women that they are forced to take this issue so far. No-one from Qantas corporate has bothered to contact the union to try to sort this out. Instead they have chosen to line themselves up against loyal and hardworking employees who have over 60 years service between them."

The complaints follow recently published recommendations from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission designed to make life for working families easier to balance.

"Australia is fast becoming a joke in this area. We are falling well behind international standards of comparable countries with respect to maternity leave and return to work rights of mothers and fathers. Now even our biggest companies pay only lip-service to being "family friendly," said Ms Bignell.

"The federal government’s WorkChoices legislation appears to be having a far-reaching affect on the mind-set of employers, who now longer think they have to do the right thing by their staff. Companies like Qantas used to make an effort but it seems that their attitude towards their employees has changed dramatically in the last year. A lot of our members are telling us it’s just not the same company they’ve been proud to serve over many years."

DOORSTOP:

12 noon Tuesday 20th March

Anti-Discrimination Commission

Level 1, 189 Coronation Drive (cnr Cribb Street)

Milton, Q 4064

For comment: Julie Bignell, ASU Branch Secretary 3252 8666 or 0404 820 627

Further info: Jo-Anne Delacourt Smith ASU Communications Officer 0420979342