Peak hour flights across Australia are likely to be affected today (Friday) as hundreds of Qantas engineers down tools over a pay dispute.
Around 600 line maintenance engineers, responsible for critical tasks like towing and marshalling aircraft and conducting final safety checks before departure, will down tools for two, four-hour stoppages.
They are taking the industrial action ahead of the Qantas AGM in Hobart, claiming that their calls for fair pay have been ignored.
Airports including Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Hobart are likely to be affected by the strike, which are set to occur during these peak travel times:
- Morning stoppages commence at 7 am AEDT, 6am AEST, 6am ACST and 5am AWST
- Evening stoppages commence at 6pm AEDT, 5pm AEST, 6pm ACST, 6pm AWST
This action is expected to disrupt the scheduled flow of air traffic across affected airports.
“Vanessa Hudson has got a number of headaches at the moment. On one hand she’s got to compensate the workers that Qantas illegally sacked and on the other hand she’s got to compensate the workers that they have conveniently forgotten,” said Steve Murphy, AMWU National Secretary.
“The workers who deliver Qantas’ world-class safety record have fallen off their radar. Vanessa Hudson needs to show that she can land a fair deal that gets these workers back on the job and the planes safely back into the air.
“The industry expects the highest standards but Qantas delivers the lowest wages. Qantas has refused to meet with the elected bargaining committee, while they draw up plans for the AGM to endorse more increases to executive salaries.
“If we are going to link any pay to Qantas’ performance, it should be the workers who deliver their world-class safety record and it’s those workers that should be paid the highest.”
As well as the stoppages, Qantas engineers and their unions will be present at the Qantas AGM, which begins at 11am. The meeting will decide on the salaries of Qantas executive board members.
The Qantas Engineers’ Alliance (QEA) – containing three major aviation unions – the AMWU, the AWU, and ETU – who represent members and shareholders say there’s no confidence in executive pay schemes while Qantas refuses to meet with its elected bargaining committee to address the wage concerns of its workers.
Last year the remuneration report was voted down 83 per cent by shareholders, with a second rejection likely to trigger a spill of the board.
The Alliance said that after months of delays and stalled negotiations from management, it was time for further action.
Negotiations for the new enterprise agreement – which expired in June – first began in April. The Alliance has put forward a wage claim of five per cent per year, with a 15 per cent first-year increase to compensate for three-and-a-half years of wage freezes and to raise wages in line with the industry.
Qantas has refused to increase its initial offer of 3 per cent per year.
“As Qantas celebrates another year of billion-dollar profits, we want to remind people that their success, and their strong safety record and reputation is due to the hard work of their engineers keeping the planes in the air,” said Paul Farrow, AWU National Secretary.
“Qantas has a history of bad behaviour – ghost flights, illegally firing workers, rorting $2B from the public and paying millions in executive bonuses, price gouging customers – but no one has held them to account.”
“These highly skilled Qantas workers are standing up and standing together. They know what they’re worth and Qantas needs to pay them accordingly,” commented Michael Wright, ETU National Secretary.
“Qantas’ safety record is only at such a high standard because of the excellent work these workers perform day in and day out. It’s time for Qantas to do the right thing, value the work, and pay the workers what they deserve.”
