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More than 600 workers in Australia have backed protected industrial action as they press Qantas for stronger job security, improved pay and safer conditions, with the airline reporting over AUD$2bn of underlying pre-tax profit.
More than 600 Qantas ground workers have voted overwhelmingly to approve protected industrial action, according to the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU).
The union said 97% of workers at Qantas Ground Services (QGS) supported the action. The result authorises workers to take protected industrial action, though no specific dates or forms of action have been announced.
What workers are seeking
The TWU said QGS workers are seeking a pay rise after years of wage freezes, stronger job security, and safer working conditions.
Workers also want Qantas to address what the union describes as a fragmented employment structure, in which staff performing related work are employed across different subsidiaries and labour-hire companies.
QGS is a wholly owned Qantas subsidiary. Its workers perform work for Qantas Freight, including a significant share of Australia Post freight work, as well as Qantas’ regional Q-Link operations.
A separate protected-action ballot is also expected to begin for more than 100 Australian Air Express workers, who are employed by another Qantas-owned subsidiary, the union said.
Profits sharpen the dispute
The industrial action vote comes as Qantas last week reported underlying pre-tax profit of over AUD$2bn. The TWU has argued that the airline’s financial position should be reflected in improved conditions for frontline workers, adding that QGS employees have been left behind after years of wage restraint and insecure work arrangements.
“These ground workers don’t want to go on strike, but after being sold a false promise that this airline would finally treat them with respect, they’ve got no other choice,” TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said in the union’s release.
Safety concerns raised
Safety concerns are also central to the union’s case.
TWU health and safety representatives in New South Wales recently issued Qantas with 14 provisional improvement notices over alleged management safety failings at Qantas Freight, according to the union. Investigations are continuing after a labour-hire worker was killed at a Qantas Freight workplace last year.
The allegations and notices form part of a wider concern among workers about safety standards in freight and ground-handling operations.
The current dispute sits against the backdrop of Qantas’ outsourcing of around 1,800 ground-handling jobs, a decision later found unlawful by the High Court.
The TWU said the remaining QGS workforce has since faced lower pay, weaker conditions and less secure employment. It argues that workers who were once employed directly by Qantas are now spread across subsidiaries and labour-hire companies, creating different conditions for employees doing related work.
Further, the union said Qantas workers were “scattered across 38 different subsidiaries and labour hire companies”, which it argued had contributed to high staff turnover and safety concerns across the aviation sector.
Kaine also pointed to what the union says are continuing Joyce-era employment practices. “Just in the last year we have seen Qantas continue to outsource work to companies with rock-bottom conditions, say it will offshore 1000 jobs in an AI deal, and close vital regional bases,” he highlighted.
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