Industrial action in Melbourne as passengers invited to rebook flights to avoid strike period

Qantas travellers have been put on alert for flight disruptions as engineers stage a fortnight of industrial action heading into football grand finals. The action began in Melbourne on Thursday morning and will spread around the nation in coming days.

Unions are pushing for a 15% pay rise this year and a further 5% per year after that, which they say would make up for more than three years of wage freezes. About 1,100 aircraft maintenance workers are covered by the agreement under negotiation, which is about 45% of the airline’s engineers.

Their unions said the action was highly likely to affect Qantas flights in all capital cities, and the airline warned some passengers of possible delays. Qantas made a profit of $1.25bn in the 2023-24 financial year, down 28.3% on the previous 12 months. Its chief executive, Vanessa Hudson, previously said the airline had deliberately reduced its margins on international travel as it worked to balance the needs of shareholders, employees and customers.

The Australian Workers’ Union national secretary, Paul Farrow, said the airline had refused to accept a “fair deal”. “You can’t expect to announce billions in profits and executive bonuses and simultaneously tell the engineers who keep your planes safe to take less and less home to their families,” he said. “At some point, people are going to say enough.”

The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union national secretary, Steve Murphy, said workers felt undervalued and under appreciated. “If you’ve had a bad Qantas experience, well that’s nothing compared to how Qantas makes their workers feel every day,” he said. “Our highly skilled members deserve fair wages for the incredible work they do to keep us all safe in the air.”

A rush of interstate visitors are expected to fly into Melbourne in coming days in the lead up to the AFL grand final, however there were no major queues or mass flight cancellations early on Thursday morning. Further industrial action is expected on Monday 30 September, Wednesday 2 October and Friday 4 October, which is days before the NRL grand final in Sydney.

On Thursday morning some Qantas passengers due to fly out of Melbourne were warned the airline was “anticipating a busy period which may affect your flight”, and invited to change to an earlier flight free of charge. However, a spokesman for the airline said it not believe the action would affect travellers.

“We’re putting contingencies in place and don’t currently expect this industrial action to have an impact on customers,” a spokesperson said. “We’ve held a series of meetings with the unions and made progress on a number of items. We want to reach an agreement that includes pay rises and lifestyle benefits for our people.”

Qantas Engineers Strike: Impact on Flights and Travelers

The strike action by Qantas engineers has not affected passengers, with plans in place to keep people moving over the AFL Grand Final weekend. The action kicked off in Melbourne on Thursday and will spread across the nation in coming days. “As of early Thursday afternoon, we haven’t had any impact to customers as a result of the industrial action,” a Qantas spokesperson said, “We have contingencies in place for the industrial action planned on Friday and the weekend and, like today, don’t currently expect this industrial action to have an impact on customers.”

Unions are pushing for a 15 per cent pay rise in 2024 and five per cent per year going forward, which they say would make up for three-and-a-half years of wage freezes. About 1100 aircraft maintenance workers are covered by the agreement under negotiation, which is about 45 per cent of the airline’s engineers. Their unions warn the action is highly likely to affect Qantas flights in all capital cities, but the airline disagrees.

Qantas made a profit of $1.25 billion in the 2023-24 financial year, down 28.3 per cent on the previous 12 months. Workers from across the Qantas Engineers’ Alliance made up of members from the AMWU, the AWU and the ETU have sent a strong message to the airline today. No more degrading of their wages! #AWU #AWUnion #ausunions #auspol #Unionsaus pic.twitter.com/Tqc8OWphzW — AWU – Australian Workers' Union (@AWUnion) September 26, 2024

Chief executive Vanessa Hudson previously said the airline had deliberately reduced its margins on international travel as it worked to balance the needs of shareholders, employees and customers. The airline refused to accept a “fair deal”, Australian Workers’ Union national secretary Paul Farrow said. “You can’t expect to announce billions in profits and executive bonuses and simultaneously tell the engineers who keep your planes safe to take less and less home to their families,” Australian Workers’ Union national secretary Paul Farrow said. “At some point people are going to say enough.”

Workers feel undervalued and under appreciated, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union national secretary Steve Murphy says.  “If you’ve had a bad Qantas experience, well that’s nothing compared to how Qantas makes their workers feel every day,” he said. “Our highly skilled members deserve fair wages for the incredible work they do to keep us all safe in the air.”

A rush of interstate visitors are expected to fly into Melbourne in coming days for the AFL Grand Final on Saturday, but there were no major queues or mass fight cancellations on Thursday morning. Further industrial action is expected on Monday, Wednesday and next Friday, which is days before the NRL Grand Final in Sydney.

Engineers Warn of Disruptions, Qantas Disputes Impact

Airports across the capital cities could be impacted. Photo: Getty

Qantas engineers have warned of flight disruptions as they walk off the job on Thursday in the first of a series of strikes across Australia. The Qantas Engineers’ Alliance said the protected industrial action would begin in Melbourne on Thursday and continue in other capital cities next week.

The four-hour work stoppages involving hundreds of engineers will follow at airports across Australia next Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The union warned its industrial action was “highly likely to affect Qantas flights in all major capitals”.

The first strike on Thursday comes ahead of one of the busiest weekends of the year, with a flood of AFL fans from Sydney and Brisbane flying to Melbourne for Saturday’s grand final between interstate rivals. It also coincides with the school holidays in Victoria, Queensland and the Northern Territory and next week’s school holidays in the other states.

A Qantas spokesperson reassured travellers that customers would not be affected. “We’re putting contingencies in place and don’t currently expect this industrial action to have an impact on customers,” a statement said. “We’ve held a series of meetings with the unions and made progress on a number of items. We want to reach an agreement that includes pay rises and lifestyle benefits for our people.”

Qantas said the striking engineers were from the airline’s aircraft maintenance engineers teams. About 1100 employees are covered by these agreements, out of 2500 engineers across Qantas. The Qantas Engineers’ Alliance is made up of the Australian Workers Union, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and Electrical Trades Union, AMWU national secretary Steve Murphy said the airline’s engineers were “undervalued, underpaid and underappreciated”. Their enterprise agreements expired at the end of June and they were seeking a 5 per cent raise per year, and a 15 per cent first-year payment to make up for 3½ years of “wage freezes”. “If you’ve had a bad Qantas experience, well that’s nothing compared to how Qantas makes their workers feel every day,” Murphy said. “Our highly skilled members deserve fair wages for the incredible work they do to keep us all safe in the air.”

The Qantas Engineers’ Alliance said the airline had devalued members’ skills and sent their wages backwards significantly in the past decade. ## The Fight for Fair Wages

After experiencing years of wage freezes while Qantas raked in billions in profit, hundreds of engineers from across the country will take major strike action over the next two weeks after being frustrated by management’s refusal to negotiate a fair deal.

Industrial action will commence tomorrow (Thursday, 26 September) in Melbourne with further actions planned over the next two weeks nationwide at all major airports. It is highly likely to affect Qantas flights in all major capitals.

The Qantas Engineers’ Alliance – a union alliance comprising the AMWU, the AWU, and the ETU – said engineers have had their skills devalued by the airline and their wages go backward significantly in real terms over the past decade. At the same time they have seen management boast of record profits and announce eye-watering executive bonuses.

The wage claim made by the Alliance is for 5 percent per year, and a 15 percent first year payment to make up for 3.5 years of wage freezes.

Steve Murphy, AMWU National Secretary:

“Nothing has changed at Qantas — their workers feel undervalued, underpaid and underappreciated. 

“If you’ve had a bad Qantas experience, well that’s nothing compared to how Qantas makes their workers feel every day.

“Our highly skilled members deserve fair wages for the incredible work they do to keep us all safe in the air.”

Paul Farrow, AWU National Secretary:

“Qantas engineers are dedicated to getting passengers where they need to go safely and on time. As a former aircraft engineer I know they never take industrial action lightly. On this occasion their hand has been forced because Qantas management is refusing to countenance a fair deal.

“You can’t expect to announce billions in profits and executive bonuses and simultaneously tell the engineers who keep your planes safe to take less and less home to their families. At some point people are going to say enough.”

Michael Wright, ETU National Secretary:

“Aircraft engineers are highly skilled and their services are in demand in a variety of sectors. Qantas has traditionally attracted the very best and brightest, and they are why it has the amazing safety record it has today.

“But if management insists on treating its engineers like garbage, then it’s pretty obvious to see what’s going to happen. Already we are seeing Qantas having to offshore maintenance because they can’t retain enough quality engineers in Australia. And we know Qantas has been struggling to attract new skilled engineers who are flocking to other employers.”

Contact: Anil Lambert 0416 426 722 / [email protected]