The Transport Workers Union has issued a five-point claim to Virgin’s owners Bain Capital including a stake in the IPO.

TWU national secretary Michael Kaine Bain stood to make hundreds of millions of dollars in the float and it was only right that the workers were rewarded through an employee share scheme.

The other claims included addressing cultural issues which the union said had created a high staff turnover, absenteeism and disputation. It also wanted all ground, cabin crew and pilots to be in-sourced and an ongoing investment in technology, fleet and workers.

The fourth claim was for a $1000 a year employee share scheme in conjunction with the IPO.

The last claim was for support of the Safe and Secure Skies Commission to rebalance aviation.

Kaine said the Virgin workforce was at the core of the airline’s reputation and service standards.

“Unlike Qantas which illegally sacked and treated its workforce with disdain, Virgin has historically valued its dedicated team. Workers are eager to get back to that workplace culture after pandemic sacrifices and rostering issues have caused workers to fall behind and staff turnover and absenteeism to rise,” he said.

“Ground workers, cabin crew and pilots are standing together to call for fairness, respect and the opportunity to build and maintain Virgin Australia as the best airline it can be.

“Bain stands to gain hundreds of millions from an upcoming IPO, it is only right that hardworking staff are rewarded for their efforts through a reasonable employee share scheme, the likes of which are common in Australia.”

Bain did not comment.