"Sydney Airport security 'a sick joke': Staff stop work to protest"

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Sydney Airport security 'a sick joke'
The Australian Associated Press


AIRLINE passengers at Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport could face delays
today and tomorrow as workers hold a series of meetings to discuss security.

Transport Workers Union (TWU) members began 36-hours of stopwork meetings at
5am (AEST) today in protest at flaws in aviation security.

A suspect object found on a Virgin Blue aircraft last week sparked a major
security scare, but an Australian Federal Police investigation identified it
as a homemade firecracker.

The TWU claims the majority of workers at the airport have no training in
security and has ridiculed security procedures.

TWU state secretary Tony Sheldon said today: "Last week's revelations of
what happened to Virgin Flight DJ-747 from Maroochydore made it abundantly
clear that on-ground security arrangements at Sydney Airport are a sick
joke.

"More than three years since September 11, two years since Bali and there is
still no single national coordinating authority responsible for setting and
enforcing international best practice security arrangements in our aviation
industry."

Mr Sheldon said all airport workers needed proper security training.

"The overwhelming majority of workers across Sydney Airport have not even
been provided the most basic of security and information briefings,
including how they should handle a security situation or what to do if they
identify a suspicious item," he said.

Attached Photo:

Security ... Unlike these professionals, a majority of workers have no
security training according to the union.

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