'Passengers brawl with airport staff'

A fight allegedly erupted between passengers and China Eastern Airlines staff. Picture: YouTube

TAKE a group of stressed passengers, add a series of unexplained flight delays along with "unhelpful" airport employees, and you've got a recipe for disaster.

Journalist Matthew Sheehan has told Chinese blog Beijing Cream about the mayhem he witnessed at Beijing International Airport, resulting in furious passengers fighting with airport staff.

Watch footage of the incident below

Mr Sheehan claims he and fellow passengers had been waiting to board their China Eastern Airlines flight MU5177 but were hit with a series of long, unexplained delays and were bounced between several boarding gates.

Concerned the flight was still being displayed as leaving at 10.40pm despite it actually being 11.45pm, they approached the ticket counter to demand an explanation.

Only problem was, it was empty.

Two hours after their last contact with staff, the angry passengers again returned to the counter and told other staff members nearby to call the China Eastern employees to the counter.

The situation escalated when the China Eastern staff arrived and allegedly lied, insisting they had never left the desk and that the flight was always displayed as departing from the one gate.

The passengers, allegedly led by some very vocal middle-aged women, began shouting at the employee to turn around, as the monitor over her shoulder showed a different gate number. She refused, adding fuel to the fire.

Next, a manager stepped in and despite being calm, he was hit in the head by a newspaper thrown by a passenger. The manager also refused to acknowledge the different gate number being displayed, and a water bottle was then allegedly thrown at his face.

This prompted the manager to lunge at the crowd, and what happened next is seen on the video.

The furious manager was held back by other staff members, however he was strong and lifted a stool above his head but was again brought under control. He allegedly yelled insults at the passengers, and the water-thrower also cursed.

Eventually a more senior manager arrived and calmed the situation down, and the passengers boarded the plane five hours late.

China Eastern Airlines has been contacted for comment.
 

View the original article here

'Passengers brawl with airport staff'

A fight allegedly erupted between passengers and China Eastern Airlines staff. Picture: YouTube

TAKE a group of stressed passengers, add a series of unexplained flight delays along with "unhelpful" airport employees, and you've got a recipe for disaster.

Journalist Matthew Sheehan has told Chinese blog Beijing Cream about the mayhem he witnessed at Beijing International Airport, resulting in furious passengers fighting with airport staff.

Watch footage of the incident below

Mr Sheehan claims he and fellow passengers had been waiting to board their China Eastern Airlines flight MU5177 but were hit with a series of long, unexplained delays and were bounced between several boarding gates.

Concerned the flight was still being displayed as leaving at 10.40pm despite it actually being 11.45pm, they approached the ticket counter to demand an explanation.

Only problem was, it was empty.

Two hours after their last contact with staff, the angry passengers again returned to the counter and told other staff members nearby to call the China Eastern employees to the counter.

The situation escalated when the China Eastern staff arrived and allegedly lied, insisting they had never left the desk and that the flight was always displayed as departing from the one gate.

The passengers, allegedly led by some very vocal middle-aged women, began shouting at the employee to turn around, as the monitor over her shoulder showed a different gate number. She refused, adding fuel to the fire.

Next, a manager stepped in and despite being calm, he was hit in the head by a newspaper thrown by a passenger. The manager also refused to acknowledge the different gate number being displayed, and a water bottle was then allegedly thrown at his face.

This prompted the manager to lunge at the crowd, and what happened next is seen on the video.

The furious manager was held back by other staff members, however he was strong and lifted a stool above his head but was again brought under control. He allegedly yelled insults at the passengers, and the water-thrower also cursed.

Eventually a more senior manager arrived and calmed the situation down, and the passengers boarded the plane five hours late.

China Eastern Airlines has been contacted for comment.
 

View the original article here

Louvre staff walk out over thefts

The Louvre museum has been closed as staff called a strike due to pickpockets becoming more and more numerous and agressive. Picture: AFP Source: AP

PARIS'S Louvre museum has closed due to a walkout by some staff in protest at a growing number of increasingly aggressive pickpockets, including children, targeting both workers and tourists, a union says.

The museum's management said it had already lodged a complaint with prosecutors in December 2012 and demanded a greater police presence.

"Two hundred staff exercised their right to walk off the job on Wednesday," a museum spokesperson said.

About 100 staff later gathered in front of the Ministry of Culture where a delegation was received.

Christelle Guyader of the SUD union said staff had had enough of the situation.

"Sometimes they come to work afraid because they find themselves confronted with organised groups of pickpockets who are increasingly aggressive and which include children, who get into the museum free and even when taken in for questioning by police come back a few days later," she said.

 

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Payroll probe told of email to IBM staff

A former IBM employee was sent an email containing details of Queensland Health's needs just as the tech giant was negotiating to secure the health payroll contract.

The Health Payroll Inquiry has resumed this morning in Brisbane with former IBM executive Jason Cameron returning to the stand to give details of his role in the finalisation of the 2007 contract won by IBM.

The health payroll system imploded soon after installation in 2010 in a financial controversy now expected to cost the Queensland tax payer $2 billion.

The inquiry has heard Mr Cameron was with IBM until 2010 but was also seconded to the State Government in-house technical outfit CorpTech in 2005 while remaining with IBM.

Mr Cameron often communicated with Damon Atzeni, a member of the government's contract evaluation team which eventually selected IBM.

He has faced suggestions from Counsel Assisting Peter Flanagan, SC, that he helped IBM secure an advantage in the contract negotiations.

Mr Flanagan this morning returned the inquiry's attention to a crucial email sent by Mr Atzeni to Mr Cameron providing details of Queensland Health's needs regarding the contract.

The email, sent in April 2007, was not sent to other companies also competing for the contract and marked "for your eyes only."

"I don't remember opening the document," Mr Cameron said.

Mr Cameron said he did not request the email.

"You knew it was confidential didn't you?" Mr Flanagan said.

Mr Cameron said, relevant to his role in Queensland Health, he believed the email contained information which could be legitimately passed on to him.

"Based on my role I believe that was a document Damon could validly have passed on to me," he said.

The inquiry continues.

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IBM and Health project staff in contact

A FORMER public servant who helped evaluate the Queensland Health payroll contract exchanged emails with successful bidder - technology giant IBM.

But Shaurin Ranjanikant Shah, who was employed as an Implementation Project Manager with the State Government outfit CorpTech, says the exchanges were made before the formal evaluation process was under way.

The email exchange was just one in a series of revelations about the contract process made in the payroll inquiry, which will continue hearing evidence in the Brisbane Magistrates Court next week.

The inquiry, headed by former Supreme Court Judge Richard Chesterman, QC, is examining why IBM won the contract which left Queensland Health with a deeply-flawed payroll system expected to cost up to $1.2 billion.

Counsel Assisting Peter Flanagan, SC, has told the inquiry the spotlight will be put on a range of key figures in the contract process, including former IBM employee Terry Burns, who worked with the State Government in securing the contract.

Yesterday morning, Mr Flanagan spent some time cross-examining Mr Shah, who was part of a large team overseeing the contract process, on the email from IBM.

"Why would a representative from IBM be emailing you directly?" Mr Flanagan asked.

"I don't know why he (the representative) chose to write to me," Mr Shah replied. "I can only say that I have a very clear recollection that I didn't provide any email addresses . . ."

Mr Shah later clarified the matter, saying there was some contact with the companies involved in the contract.

"There were some exchanges with me and the guys and the vendor," he said.

But once the formal process of contract evaluation was under way he was directed to stop writing to people individually, and have all contacts go through a superior.

Gary Uhlmann, owner of Arena Consulting - expected to give evidence next week - was asked to review government technical programs which were experiencing time delays and cost blowouts.

That review was part of the process which led to the decision to outsource the health payroll system in a tender which went down to a two-horse race between IBM and Accenture.

Mr Uhlmann said it was during the review process he met Terry Burns, who was working as an unpaid consultant for the State Government.

Mr Uhlmann said he surmised Mr Burns might have been working for no pay to establish his credentials in the technology field.

"I formed a positive opinion of Mr Burns' experience and capability," he wrote.

The inquiry continues Monday.

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Telstra sacks hundreds of Sensis staff

Telstra will shed hundreds of jobs in Melbourne and Sydney. Picture: Bob Finlayson Source: The Australian

TELSTRA has confirmed this morning it is sacking one in five staff at its struggling Sensis business.

The company announced it would slash 648 staff at the group that produces the Yellow Pages, White Pages and the Trading Post..

The communications giant is cutting staff in Melbourne and Sydney, in the latest Australian jobs blow.

Community and Public Sector Union national president Michael Tull said the job losses were deeply distressing.

"Sensis staff have been crushed by the scale of these cuts for a company that is part of Telstra which earlier this month posted record half year profits of $1.6 billion," he said.

"The numbers are substantial job cuts.

"They are call centre staff, back of office staff, design work for the ads and printing work."

Mr Tull said that there had been rumours of changes for weeks, but the scale of the job cuts had shocked him.

The company is blaming the rise of online searches for the decline in its print publications, that have landed on doorsteps for decades.

Staff had meetings with managers at 10am today to discuss their future.

The head managers will meet with unions at 3pm today, in a summit that was called after unions heard rumblings about the cuts.

CPSU spokeswoman Teresa Davison said the union would reserve the right to take the cuts to Fair Work Australia if Telstra acted unfairly.

"We're talking to members at the moment and we will be meeting with Sensis at 3pm," she said.

"We have been calling for weeks to discuss this; they were claiming they had not made a decision as recently as Tuesday."

Ms Davison said Telstra was making a short-sighted call.

"Like all large businesses they look at their massive profits dropping,” she said.

"If a $1 billion profit drops to $900 million their response is to sack staff, even though they are still making a huge profit.”

The Sensis business includes Yellow Pages, White Pages and the Trading Post.

The traditional print advertising publications have been struggling with competition from online advertising.

Sensis Australia managing director John Allan said the business model was unsustainable.

"Until now we have been operating with an outdated print-based model – this is no longer sustainable for us," he said in a statement.

"Already, more than 60 per cent of our customers now are advertising online and in mobile apps, while our White and Yellow Pages digital services received 18.4m visits in January 2013.

"We need to simplify our operation and invest in areas that make us more efficient, and meet our customers’ growing demand for online and mobile services."

Stephen.drill@news.com.au

View the original article here

Telstra sacks hundreds of staff

Telstra will shed hundreds of jobs in Melbourne and Sydney. Picture: Bob Finlayson Source: The Australian

TELSTRA has confirmed this morning it is sacking one in five staff at its struggling Sensis business.

The company announced it would slash 648 staff at the group that produces the Yellow Pages, White Pages and the Trading Post..

The communications giant is cutting staff in Melbourne and Sydney, in the latest Australian jobs blow.

Community and Public Sector Union national president Michael Tull said the job losses were deeply distressing.

"Sensis staff have been crushed by the scale of these cuts for a company that is part of Telstra which earlier this month posted record half year profits of $1.6 billion," he said.

"The numbers are substantial job cuts.

"They are call centre staff, back of office staff, design work for the ads and printing work."

Mr Tull said that there had been rumours of changes for weeks, but the scale of the job cuts had shocked him.

The company is blaming the rise of online searches for the decline in its print publications, that have landed on doorsteps for decades.

Staff had meetings with managers at 10am today to discuss their future.

The head managers will meet with unions at 3pm today, in a summit that was called after unions heard rumblings about the cuts.

CPSU spokeswoman Teresa Davison said the union would reserve the right to take the cuts to Fair Work Australia if Telstra acted unfairly.

"We're talking to members at the moment and we will be meeting with Sensis at 3pm," she said.

"We have been calling for weeks to discuss this; they were claiming they had not made a decision as recently as Tuesday."

Ms Davison said Telstra was making a short-sighted call.

"Like all large businesses they look at their massive profits dropping,” she said.

"If a $1 billion profit drops to $900 million their response is to sack staff, even though they are still making a huge profit.”

The Sensis business includes Yellow Pages, White Pages and the Trading Post.

The traditional print advertising publications have been struggling with competition from online advertising.

Sensis Australia managing director John Allan said the business model was unsustainable.

"Until now we have been operating with an outdated print-based model – this is no longer sustainable for us," he said in a statement.

"Already, more than 60 per cent of our customers now are advertising online and in mobile apps, while our White and Yellow Pages digital services received 18.4m visits in January 2013.

"We need to simplify our operation and invest in areas that make us more efficient, and meet our customers’ growing demand for online and mobile services."

Stephen.drill@news.com.au

View the original article here