Qantas ‘demoted me for being Falun Gong’

Qantas employee says she lost her job as an international flight attendant after being deported from China for practising Falun Gong.

Counsel for Sheridan Genrich, of Lane Cove, told a workplace relations tribunal that Qantas demoted her after she was threatened by Chinese authorities during a stopover in Beijing.

She said that authorities singled her out from the crew, interrogated her over her beliefs and told her never to come back or there would be “serious consequences”.

The moment when the Chinese guards took her away in November 2008 was possibly the most frightening of her life, the Fair Work Australia tribunal heard last week.

“It’s not a very friendly port and I didn’t know why I was being taken away and I was on my own…I knew I practised Falun Gong (and) this had never happened before,” she told the tribunal.

China has banned Falun Gong since 1999, calling it a dangerous cult. The spiritual movement combines elements of Buddhism, mysticism and traditional exercise and has active support in Australia, where followers regularly demonstrate against persecution of members in China.

The tribunal heard how Ms Genrich was stood down on her return to Australia and then demoted to a lower-paying position as a short haul flight attendant.

Her legal counsel, Shane Prince, said Qantas had failed to “stand up for its employee” who had been with the airline since 2001with an “excellent working record”.

Ms Genrich claims that Qantas has discriminated against her and demands that the airline reinstate her on international routes and compensate her for lost wages.

“Qantas turned on the victim of the outrage and stood her down and subjected her to a disciplinary hearing,” he told a Fair Work Australia hearing last week.

Crew must be able to travel anywhere

However, Qantas said that it switched her to short haul duties because its international crew must be able to travel to any country.

This is despite alleged exceptions, including a Taiwanese national employed as international crew who is not required to travel to China.

Ms Genrich had flown to China with the airline on five previous occasions without incident.

Qantas counsel Rachel Bernasconi said Ms Genrich, who had been practising Falun Gong since 2002, had brought material in her luggage that she should have known was illegal in China.

After she was detained, Chinese authorities found a copy of Zhuan Falun – the main Falun Gong text – and copies of the Falun Gong-founded Epoch Times newspaper in her luggage.

Ms Bernasconi said rule 8.3.1 of the Cabin Crew Operations Manual prohibited crew from “conveying” newspapers while they were working.

Under cross-examination Ms Genrich, who is 23 weeks pregnant, admitted she knew China blocked access to Falun Gong material on the internet but likened the newspapers to “gifts” crew sometimes brought to locals during stopovers.

She said she had contacted a friend and fellow Falun Gong member in Beijing and had intended to pass the material to him.

“(I was) letting my friend know what was going (on) overseas and helping the Chinese people as well,” Ms Genrich said.

Stewardess fears imprisonment, torture

She also admitted that she had signed an internet petition protesting the treatment of Falun Gong practitioners.

And the tribunal heard she feared she could be tortured or held in a labour camp if she returned to China.

“I don’t want to go back and my name could be on a black list”, she said.

She acknowledged the Epoch Times was known to publish articles critical of the Chinese Government but said the newspaper would give the Chinese “hope”.

Asked if she knew the newspaper was banned, Ms Genrich replied: “I didn’t take anything in because it was banned, I took it in because there was material (my friend) would like to know about in China.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Smartraveller website warns “Falun Gong activities are banned in China”.

“Falun Gong related demonstrations and activities contravene Chinese laws,” it states.

“If you participate, you could be arrested, imprisoned and/or deported.”

Fair Work Australia Commissioner Frank Raffaelli closed the court after the first three hours of the two-day hearing.
He has reserved his decision on the case.