Jetstar staff won't strike again until after Christmas and New Year's
Striking Jetstar staff say they will take no further industrial action over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Jetstar was forced to cancel another batch of holiday season flights on Thursday as union staff at the Australian low-budget airline continued rolling strikes across the country.
Ground crew have been striking over pay and safety concerns, while Jetstar says work stoppages are "unjustifiable and cynically timed to hurt travellers".
Transport Workers' Union national secretary Michael Kaine says strikes are a last resort for desperate staff.
"They are sorry about the disruption but they have been left with no option," he said at Sydney Airport on Thursday.
"Workers will take no further strike action until after the new year has hit us.
"It's a show of good faith in the face of a company that won't even come to the table."
Jetstar, which proactively cancelled 28 flights across the country on Thursday, says it won't be swayed by the union's "stand-over tactics".
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"The holiday period extends well beyond the Christmas/New Year period and their continued threat of action provides ongoing uncertainty for our customers," the company said in a statement.
"As we have said repeatedly to the TWU, we are willing to meet if the union provides clear evidence they are prepared to discuss a deal that fits within our wages policy.
"Until then, we are focused on minimising disruption caused by the union's actions."
Earlier this week, the company said it would slash its January flight schedules by 10 per cent to reduce disruption to passengers.
Federal opposition leader Anthony Albanese says Jetstar and the union need to sit down and hash out a compromise.
"It's time for this to be settled because the disruption, I think, at this time of the year makes it very difficult for people," he told Triple M Hobart on Thursday.
"When workers take industrial action they lose wages. But the company, I think, loses a lot of good will when flights are cancelled."
The Australian Federation of Airline Pilots, which has also been in dispute with Jetstar, says it will not strike between December 21 and January 3.
The TWU wants more rest breaks, a guaranteed 12-hour break between shifts, guaranteed 30 hours a week and annual wage increases of four per cent.
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