Transport Workers Union v Qantas: Airline accused of using pandemic as excxuse to sack workers, court hears
A court has heard a big accusation against Qantas over its decision to cut more than 2000 jobs and outsource to contractors.
Australian air giant Qantas allegedly saw the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to rid itself of workers who enjoyed benefits carried over from its time as a government entity, a court has heard.
The Transport Workers Union has taken the iconic airline to the Federal Court over its decision in November to cut more than 2000 ground handler staff and outsource the jobs to contractors.
The union is attempting to overturn the decision and claims the move to dump baggage handlers, ramp workers and cabin cleaners in order to use third party ground services at 10 Australian airports breached the Fair Work Act.
Qantas maintains the move was legal and claims it was forced to act due to the devastating impact of the pandemic on aviation and tourism, saying it would save the company more than $100m per year.
On Monday the union’s barrister Mark Gibian SC told the court Qantas had been “endeavouring” to re-gear its workforce to one without legacy conditions since its privatisation in 1990.
Mr Gibian alleged the airline seized on a shutdown brought on by the pandemic as a “transformational opportunity” to shift staffing towards labour hire and contractors.
“It has been a long-term motivation of Qantas to obtain a workforce that didn’t enjoy the (previous) conditions … and that has been the subject of long-term dispute by its members undertaking this work,“ he said.
“(The pandemic) was seen as a window of opportunity in order to achieve that outcome.”
The union claims up to 2500 workers at 10 airports in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, Cairns, Townsville, Alice Springs and Canberra lost their jobs as a result of the move.
In response Qantas‘ barrister Neil Young QC told the court the decision was solely a business one made as the company bled money due to pandemic’s crippling impact on the aviation industry.
Mr Young said the call was made by Qantas domestic and international chief executive Andrew David, and would save the company $103m per year due to a third party provider’s more “efficient and competitive” offer.
“The decision to outsource was, we say, a necessary response to the devastating affect the pandemic had had upon Qantas’ business,” Mr Young said.
“Effectively each business unit ran a microscope over its operations looking for cost savings … so as to reduce the airline’s overall cost base and increase its flexibility.
“Without those measures its ongoing solvency and ability to survive and emerge would have been threatened.”
The move would also bring operations into line with the flying kangaroos‘ staffing at 55 other airports where they already use specialist third party ground service, he said.
Mr Young described the financial impact of the coronavirus on Qantas as “extremely severe”, outlining its losses of $2.7b last financial year and revealing it was already down $1.5b since July.
“Those financial figures are extreme but they don’t really reflect the gravity of the situation but for the cost reduction strategies put in place across the group,” he said.
Several current and former high-ranking Qantas executives, including Mr David, are set to be called as witnesses in the hearing before Justice Michael Lee.