Skydivers go on strike in three Australian states and claim pay has plummeted

Australian skydivers in three states have gone on strike while pay negotiations drag on.

Skydiving instructors employed by tourism giant Experience Co were due to walk off the job on Friday at eight sites in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria after refusing multiple pay offers.

The company said its offers would make their employees some of the highest-paid in the industry but their union said the proposals would turn skydivers into gig workers.

“Tandem skydiving instructors literally take people’s lives in their hands every time they go to work,” Australian Workers’ Union national organiser Jonathan Cook said.

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He pointed out skydiving was often bought as a Christmas gift.

“Would you want your mum strapped to an underpaid instructor?”

The union