Jetstar staff have begun strike action for better pay and work conditions. Source: AAP]

Jetstar faces a weekend of strikes as baggage handlers and ground crew stop work followed by four-hour stoppages by pilots.

The airline’s ground staff will walk off the job at different times today in Sydney, at Melbourne’s Tullamarine and Avalon airports and in Brisbane, Cairns and Adelaide.

The strike – less than two weeks out from Christmas – comes after the budget airline rejected workers’ demands for pay increases, minimum hours on the job and safety improvements.

“Jetstar won’t listen when these workers say to them that they simply can’t survive on 20 hours of work a week,” Transport Workers Union national secretary Michael Kaine said on Tuesday.

The union claims Jetstar makes $4 billion in revenue, while workers are forced onto insecure low-paid work.

Negotiations broke down after the company rejected demands including for more rest breaks, a guaranteed 12-hour break between shifts and a guaranteed 30 hours a week.

This first day of disruption will be followed by pilots halting planes for four hours both tomorrow and Sunday.