‘It was just a brutal moment’: Qantas workers ‘fired over lunch room loudspeaker’

A former Qantas worker has detailed the ‘brutal’ moment he and almost 1700 others learned their jobs would be outsourced.

A former Qantas worker has detailed the “brutal moment” he and 1700 others learned their jobs would be outsourced over a loudspeaker in their lunch room.

On Wednesday night, ramp supervisor Don Dixon was quizzed about his time at Qantas by A Current Affair – the evening after Australia’s High Court ruled the airline illegally sacked almost 1700 employees during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I absolutely loved Qantas. It was a fantastic company to work for until Joyce took over,” the former employee of over 20 years told the program.

“Some of the people I worked with [had been there for] 40 years, and it was an iconic Australian company, and it was a fabulous place to go to work.

“The last 15 years were just awful.”

Don Dixon, a ramp supervisor at Qantas, was interviewed by A Current Affair on Wednesday night. Picture: A Current Affair

Mr Dixon said “everything changed” under the lead of former CEO Alan Joyce, who departed the company early last week, revealing loyalty diminished, and he was made to feel like a “dinosaur”.

According to Mr Dixon, he and his team found out they had three months until they would be terminated via an announcement over a loudspeaker in the lunch room.

Host Allison Langdon, floored by the revelation, asked: “Is there any more cowardly way to tell someone who has served loyalty for 20 years they no longer have a job?”

“They could have mailed something, but I don’t think they would have paid for the stamp,” Mr Dixon responded.

ACA Host Allison Langdon was shocked by the revelation staff were fired over a loudspeaker. Picture: A Current Affair

“Over the loudspeaker, in the lunch room, we were all together. It was just a brutal moment.”

Finding other work was challenging, Mr Dixon claimed, given that the 20 years at Qantas left him with a specific skill set.

“Nobody wanted to employ you – when you worked at Qantas, it was a career, it was a lifetime, no one was going to leave because it was that good.”

“It’s not as if every company in Australia has a role for washed-up baggage handlers and cleaners.”

He said Wednesday marked the first day since what has been dubbed one of the largest sackings in Australian corporate history that he, as a union delegate, had heard “happy voices” on the other end of the phone line.

“We were a small part of history today – we won – we did it.”

Wednesday’s unanimous ruling to reject Qantas’s appeal in the High Court has been welcomed by the Albanese government.

Qantas workers, TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine, ACTU Secretary Sally McManus, Senator Tony Sheldon during a press conference at the High Court in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The embattled national carrier lost its battle to overturn a Federal Court ruling that it illegally sacked almost 1700 workers and outsourced their jobs during the pandemic.

“The outsourcing decision was ‘adverse action’ within the meaning of the Fair Work Act 2009 because it altered the position of the affected employees of Qantas and (its subsidiary) Qantas Ground Services to their prejudice,” the majority judgment by the High Court read.

It ended a two-year fight between the Transport Workers Union and the 1683 Qantas ground staff who were stood down in November 2020.

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke intervened to argue against the appeal and used the landmark ruling to lash the Coalition in a question time attack.

“We welcome today that justice has been given for those workers after experiencing horrific treatment from a company that those opposite made excuses for,” Mr Burke said.

Transport Workers Union national secretary Michael Kaine told reporters the decision was vindication for the workers who had been to “hell and back” over the past three years and called for an immediate apology from Qantas.

“This has been a spiteful corporate dictatorship, and the board has been right behind Alan Joyce … every step of the way,” he said.

“There are serious consequences that should flow from this. Richard Goyder and the board should go.

“But their last act before they walk out the door should be to rip away from Alan Joyce, the obscene bonuses that he has taken as these families suffer. The bonuses have to go, the board has to go.”

Qantas said in a statement that it ‘acknowledges and accepts the High Court’s decision’.

Mr Joyce, who had served as chief executive for 15 years, recently announced his immediate resignation from the airline, bringing forward his retirement by two months.

It’s estimated Mr Joyce will walk away from Qantas with up to $24 million in a final cash and share payout.

Qantas had argued that it could not have breached the workplace rights of employees because they did not have the right to take protected industrial action at the time of the decision to outsource.

In a statement, a spokesperson said the airline “acknowledges and accepts the High Court’s decision” and “sincerely apologises” for the personal impact of the outsourcing decision.

“The Federal Court originally found that while there were valid and lawful commercial reasons for the outsourcing, it could not rule out that Qantas also had an unlawful reason – namely, avoiding future industrial action,” they said in a statement issued after the ruling.

“The High Court has now effectively upheld this interpretation.”

The ground staff worked at ten airports across Australia until the airline dismissed them.

The full Federal Court upheld the decision in 2022, but the court did not force Qantas to reinstate the sacked workers.

Departed Qantas CEO Alan Joyce. Picture NCA NewsWire / Aaron Francis

Lawyers representing the workers will now seek hefty compensation, but when asked on Wednesday, the TWU stopped short of saying how much they’d be fighting for.

“(The workers) had jobs ripped away from them illegally. They’re entitled to still be in their positions, and they need to be compensated for that,” he said.

“It is important that there is a clear signal sent to employers in the future that this type of conduct should not occur.”

Qantas said the decision to outsource was made during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in August 2020, “when borders were closed, lockdowns were in place and no vaccine existed”.

“The likelihood of a years-long crisis led Qantas to restructure its business to improve its ability to survive and ultimately recover,” they said.

“As we have said from the beginning, we deeply regret the personal impact the outsourcing decision had on all those affected and we sincerely apologise for that.

– With NCA NewsWire