Efforts are being made to help hundreds of Bonza employees who have been stood down after the budget airline went into administration.
The Flight Attendants’ Association of Australia has launched a GoFundMe campaign, ‘Support Bonza Cabin Crew in Crisis’, while the Sunshine Coast’s largest local recruitment and employment firm HRM Contracting and Consulting will offer free assistance to staff looking for new roles.
The fundraiser seeks immediate financial support.
“Bonza cabin crew have been your first responders in the skies, and now they need your urgent help,” the FAAA said via a press release and the GoFundMe page.
“Airline staff were stood down only three days before payday to be told they cannot be paid for the previous month.
“This has meant that Bonza cabin crew, already living pay cheque to pay cheque under minimum award conditions, now face rent, mortgage repayments, power, gas and food and other bills that they simply cannot afford.
“Bonza cabin crew need your urgent help to get them and their families through this crisis.
“The FAAA will securely manage the funds and distribute donated monies to the Bonza crew who have registered with the FAAA as needing assistance.”
About $6000 has been raised, with a target of $660,000.
The FAAA said it had also successfully lobbied Qantas to extend their Employee Assistance Program to the displaced Bonza employees.
“This program provides counselling and support services to those left without support in these challenging times.”
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Meanwhile, HRM founder Sally Desch was eager to help Bonza workers get new jobs.
“We currently have 30 positions we need to fill and I have no doubt that there will be many Bonza employees that will be ideal for some of these roles,” she said.
“The roles include hospitality, administration, management accounting, accounts and IT services. Many of the Bonza staff will have transferrable skills that will make them very attractive candidates for these positions.”
Ms Desch said it would be a stressful time for Bonza employees who have had weeks without pay, and they should consider casual or temporary work to help with cash flow while they await further news from the administrators.
“We understand that during this extended stand-down period, employees can take on casual or temporary roles without impacting their entitlements,” she said.
“This is important because many people are living wage to wage, so we need to help find them jobs quickly to ease their financial stress.”
Ms Desch has organised an information session to discuss the roles she is recruiting for and to review the CVs of Bonza staff.
She has also invited a representative from a local bank to provide guidance around the steps that can be taken during the stand-down periods or redundancies.
Ms Desch also encouraged organisations who are recruiting to contact her so that she can let Bonza staff know. Employers are also welcome to attend the session, to be held on Thursday at 4pm. Registrations can be made via Humanitix.
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