Firefighters at Canberra Airport plan to strike on April 15 in a protest over staffing levels, which the union says are so bad they put passengers in danger.
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Internal documents from Airservices Australia, which employs airport firefighters, put Canberra Airport at "high risk" in its ability to handle a "probable and worst case aviation incident".
The internal safety assessment of Australian airports was obtained by the United Firefighters Union and released to the media.
The federal government agency responded that its study was done in 2021 and since then extra people and equipment had been put into firefighting abilities at the airport.
It said that the risk assessments were theoretical and "do not measure current state operational risk".
But union leader Wes Garrett disputed that the problem had been solved.
"These leaked documents confirm that Australia's air travellers face a dire risk every time they set foot on an aircraft in Australia," he said.
He said the documents "found that the safety of air travellers was being threatened due to a range of resource and personnel shortages".
Mr Garrett, aviation branch secretary of the United Firefighters Union, said there was a problem at 27 airports in Australia, including Canberra. At 13 of them, including Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide, the Airservices Australia safety assessment was "extreme risk" due to a lack of firefighting resources.
At the other 14 airports, including Canberra, Sydney and Hobart, there was a "high risk".
The union plans to strike for four hours from 6am on April 15. It is in dispute with Air Services Australia over pay and staffing.
It wants changes to the enterprise agreement with Airservices Australia to include new clauses including minimum staffing requirements, set working hours and rostering and changes to meet work health and safety regulations.
The strike in two weeks will be at each of the airports and is part of the escalating pay dispute and could threaten travel over the school holidays.
- wtih AAP
Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
