Plane refuelers to strike at Sydney Airport tomorrow 02:35

But if you're expecting to get on a plane at Sydney Airport tomorrow, you might be in for a long wait at the airport because more than 50 refuelers will be going on strike at Kingsford Smith. They're seeking better pay from Ampol Aviation. Richard Olsen is the New South Wales Secretary of the TWU, the Transport Workers' Union. He's on the line for us. Richard, g'day. G'day, Chris. How are you? Thank you for having me on, mate. No, you're very welcome. So the disruptions, how significant will they be?

Look, that could be significant early in the morning. There is a stoppage in the morning from early morning till 5am and then again from 7am to 11am and then not till later on in the early evening, 6pm to 10pm. So they're the three stoppages that we have got.

Obviously, this is not the first line of industrial disputation in which we've taken. We have attempted to negotiate for well over six months, had 15 meetings and two commission hearings before the Fair Work Commission to get us to where we're at, which is, of course, we're saying the company's not coming to the party. They're not prepared to negotiate. They're not listening to the concerns of the membership. Anyone else filling the planes up while this stop work is going on?

Look, we hear rumours that the companies out there are attempting to find others to do so, and they may well find some, Chris. They may not. It is not our position that we are trying to disadvantage the travelling public. We want to know that Ampol is a company who's not playing the game here. They're not negotiating with their employees and the union, and that's where we want to target everybody.

our anger, not to the travelling public. Just quickly, Richard, what pay rise do you want and what is Ampol offering?

Look, MPOL is off of very little, very small, very single numbers, somewhere around the 2% or 3%. We're looking for a bit more. And more so, Chris, as you might be aware, look, there's only 24 permanent positions down there, but there's 68 employees all told. There's more than 50% of people that are casuals. We're looking for job security here. That's the most important part. Good on you, Richard. All the best. Thanks so much. Thank you very much.

Thanks, Chris. That's Richard Olsen from the Transport Workers Union. So just be aware if you're getting on a flight tomorrow morning, there is a stop work early morning to 5am and then again 7am until 11am. The refuelers who are walking off the job. 131873.