Qantas strikes affects major airports

Peak flight flights could be hit as hundreds of Qantas engineers will be forced to leave their jobs for the second time in a month over alleged pay disputes.

About 600 line maintenance engineers will carry out two four-hour disruptions on Friday morning during peak times at airports across the country, including Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Hobart.

The engineers are responsible for carrying out final safety checks before departure and for towing and shunting of aircraft.

AWU national secretary Paul Farrow claimed the major airline has a ‘history of bad behaviour’.

“As Qantas celebrates another year of billion-dollar profits, we want to remind people that their success, strong safety record and reputation are down to the hard work of their engineers to keep their planes in the air.” , said Mr Farrow.

‘Qantas has a history of bad behavior – ghost flights, illegally firing workers, robbing the public of $2 billion and paying millions in executive bonuses, gouging prices on customers – but no one has held them to account .’

Qantas engineers from the Qantas Engineers’ Alliance (QEA) – which includes major aviation unions AMWU, the AWU and ETU – will head out from 6am AEST and 5pm AEST on Friday for respective two-hour breaks.

Engineers are calling for a new enterprise agreement with a 15 percent pay increase in the first year, followed by a 5 percent increase for subsequent years.

Qantas workers went on strike over pay in Melbourne and Brisbane on Wednesday (above)

In addition to a strike, engineers will also attend Qantas’ annual general meeting (AGM) in Hobart, which will start at 11am AEDT.

The intention is that the salaries of the members of the Qantas board of directors will be decided at the meeting.

AMWU national secretary Steve Murphy claimed that ‘the industry expects the highest standards, but Qantas delivers the lowest wages’.

“The workers who deliver Qantas’ world-class safety record have disappeared from their radar. “Vanessa Hudson must show that she can reach a fair deal that will get these workers back to work and the planes back in the air safely,” Murphy said.

‘The industry expects the highest standards, but Qantas delivers the lowest wages. Qantas has refused to meet with the elected negotiating committee as they draw up plans for the AGM to approve more increases to executive salaries.

“If we are going to link rewards to Qantas’ performance, it must be the employees who deliver their world-class safety record, and it is those employees who should be paid the most.”

The strikes will start during peak hours

A Qantas spokesperson said it was aware of Friday’s strike and said “no impact” on customers is expected.

“There has been industrial action by engineers since the end of September and so far we have been successful in ensuring that this has not resulted in flight delays or cancellations,” the spokesperson said.

“There was also no impact on our operations following the action taken earlier this week. Our teams continue to do an excellent job helping customers reach their destinations safely.

‘Prior to the industrial action, we had a number of discussions with the unions. We want to continue working with them to find a way forward, but they have chosen to take action.

‘Our preference is for an agreement that includes wage increases and other benefits. This includes annual pay increases, higher pay for apprentices, as well as new career development opportunities and more advanced training.”

Friday’s strike follows similar action in September.