A union official says Qantas workers are earning $200 less than the weekly minimum wage because they are only offered part-time work.

Transport Workers Union national secretary Tony Sheldon told a Senate inquiry that the airline is only offering slightly more than 20 hours of work a week to employees as part of a strategy to move to a part-time workforce.

The inquiry was also told Qantas was not paying below the minimum hourly rate.

Qantas plans to cut 5,000 jobs as part of a restructuring to keep the airline viable, after making a $250 million half-year loss.

The airline is also seeking a loosening of foreign ownership restrictions that could allow investments from offshore airlines.

Unions object to changes to foreign ownership provisions on the grounds any shift would allow jobs to be sent offshore.

Mr Sheldon told the Senate committee, which is inquiring into the future of Qantas as a national carrier, that the airline’s management had not engaged with workers to consider alternatives to the job losses.

“There is not full-time jobs anymore, and they are offering voluntary redundancies for full-timers as well as the intent to have forced redundancies where they can to make sure they get their 5,000 mark,” Mr Sheldon said.

He said positions offered under the most recent labour arrangement to employees covered by his union, mainly ground services staff, were all part time.

The result of part-time work was workers earned $200 a week less than the minimum weekly wage, and roster uncertainty made it hard to get a second job.

“It does not give Australian families the capacity to pay the mortgage, the rent and raise a family,” he said.

Mr Sheldon also claimed Qantas had invested in new aircraft for its underperforming Jetstar Asia service while failing to buy new, more fuel-efficient planes for the Qantas domestic service.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce will appear before the committee later on Friday.