Chaos as Qantas staff walk off the job at major Australian airports

Hundreds of Qantas engineers are expected to walk off the job in a fight for better pay.

Hundreds of Qantas staff are walking off the job across Australian airports for 24 hours demanding better pay.

An estimated 300 Qantas engineers will strike across all major Australian airports on Wednesday as workers continue to battle for better wages.

Staff in Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport will launch the strike at 10am Wednesday, and engineers in Brisbane’s International Terminal are expected to strike from 1.30am.

Both cities are also expected to hold rallies as part of the strike, though the airline assured travellers they won’t be affected by the strike.

Qantas engineers will walk off the job on Wednesday. Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

This is the latest set of strikes after workers walked off the job last month as part of their push for increased wages after their most recent enterprise agreement expired in June.

According to Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union national secretary Steve Murphy, members are “voting overwhelmingly” for better pay after a wage freeze for more than three years during the pandemic.

The engineers have been negotiating with Qantas management since April for a five per cent annual pay rise, with 15 per cent more in the first year to compensate for the wage freeze.

Thousands of travellers will be affected by the strike. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ben Clark

However, the Qantas Engineers’ Alliance - which comprises of there AMWU, Australian Workers’ Union and Electrical Trades Union - claimed there were issues with management at the bargaining table.

“This is because every time there is a problem at Qantas, the executives ignore it and just hope that it will go away,” Mr Murphy said.

“Well, we’re not going anywhere.”

National secretary of AWU, Paul Farrow, said Qantas engineers have been dealing with wage freezes “when times are tough” but have received little in return once “the profits are flowing”.

“No more delays, no more excuses,” Mr Farrow said.

Travel is likely to be disrupted amid the strike. Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

ETU national secretary Michael Wright said it was “disgraceful for Qantas to be making billion-dollar profits while these highly skilled workers are having to go “without the pay increase they rightfully deserve”.

“These workers have suffered wage freezes through Covid, all while continuing to make Qantas one of the safest airlines around,” Mr Wright continued.

“Qantas needs to stop stalling, start showing their respect to these workers and pay them what they’re worth.”

Qantas assured travellers they won’t be affected by the strike. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

Speaking to NewsWire, a Qantas spokesperson assured travellers they would not be affected by the strike.

“Our teams have worked hard to put contingencies in place and we don’t expect the industrial action in Melbourne today to have any impact to customers,” the spokesperson said.

“There’s been some industrial action by engineers since late September and so far we’ve been able to successfully ensure it hasn’t resulted in any flight delays or cancellations. Our teams continue to do a great job helping customers get to their destination safely.”

Originally published as Chaos as Qantas staff walk off the job at major Australian airports