Skydiving instructors across three Australian states—Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria—have gone on strike at eight Experience Co sites. The strike began Friday after repeated pay offer refusals during 10 months of stalled negotiations. Experience Co says its pay offers would make instructors some of the highest-paid in the industry. However, the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) disagrees, calling the pay proposals unfair and warning they would turn skydivers into “gig workers.” Jonathan Cook, AWU national organiser, said, “Tandem skydiving instructors literally take people’s lives in their hands every time they go to work.” He added, “Would you want your mum strapped to an underpaid instructor?” The union claims most instructors have had little or no wage increase in decades and warns that the company’s plans to remove productivity bonuses will slash incomes drastically. Instructors face base salaries around $50,000, and some workers could see pay cuts up to $100,000, the union said. Experience Co CEO John O’Sullivan blamed “militant union bosses” for the disruptions, urging the union to reconsider what he called “unreasonable and irresponsible industrial action.” He stated the company’s offers include “six-figure” salaries and criticized the union’s demands as adding “massive costs that are simply not viable for the business.” The strike is the first-ever by skydiving instructors in Australia and hits during one of the busiest skydiving seasons. Affected customers are being contacted and offered alternatives or full refunds.