Qantas engineer strikes affects major airports across Australia

Hundreds of Qantas staff members are set to walk off the job at airports across the country, including Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Hobart.

Peak hour flights could be affected as hundreds of Qantas engineers are set to walk off the job for the second time in a month over alleged pay disputes.

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

Hundreds of Qantas engineers will strike on Friday morning over alleged pay disputes. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ben Clark

The engineers are responsible for conducting final safety checks before departure and towing and marshalling planes.

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, and their strong safety record and reputation is due to the hard work of their engineers keeping the planes in the air,” Mr Farrow said.

“Qantas has a history of bad behaviour – ghost flights, illegally firing workers, rorting $2B from the public and paying millions in executive bonuses, price gouging customers – but no one has held them to account.”

Qantas engineers from the Qantas Engineers’ Alliance (QEA) – which comprises major aviation unions the AMWU, the AWU, and ETU – will walk out from 6am AEST on Friday as well as 5pm AEST, for respective two hour stoppages.

Engineers are calling for a new enterprise agreement with a 15 per cent first-year wage increase, followed by a five per cent rise for following years.

As well as engaging in a strike, engineers will also be attending the Qantas annual general meeting (AGM) in Hobart, slated to begin at 11am AEDT at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

The salaries of Qantas executive board members is tipped to be decided at the meeting, as well as discussions of ongoing bonuses for former chief executive officer Alan Joyce and current chair John Mullen’s board commitments.

Last year only 66 shareholders attended the AGM, according to The Australian, with chair Richard Goder reportedly requesting one of their microphones be turned off over an objection to questioning.

AMWU national secretary Steve Murphy claimed “the industry expects the highest standards but Qantas delivers the lowest wages”.

“The workers who deliver Qantas’ world-class safety record have fallen off their radar. Vanessa Hudson needs to show that she can land a fair deal that gets these workers back on the job and the planes safely back into the air,” Mr Murphy said.

“The industry expects the highest standards but Qantas delivers the lowest wages. Qantas has refused to meet with the elected bargaining committee, while they draw up plans for the AGM to endorse more increases to executive salaries.

“If we are going to link any pay to Qantas’ performance, it should be the workers who deliver their world-class safety record and it’s those workers that should be paid the highest.”

The strikes are set to begin during peak travel times. Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

A Qantas spokesperson said they were aware of Friday’s industrial action and said “no impact” is expected for customers.

“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,” the spokesperson said.

“There was also no impact to our operations following the action that was taken earlier this week. Our teams continue to do a great job helping customers get to their destination safely.

“We had a number of meetings with the unions prior to the industrial action. We want to continue to engage with them to find a way forward but they have chosen to take action.

“Our preference is to reach an agreement that includes pay rises and other benefits. This includes annual pay increases, increased apprentice pay, as well as new career progression opportunities and more advanced training.”

Friday’s strike follows similar action in September.