Unions take Qantas ‘wage theft’ to High Court

Qantas says unions are wasting members’ money by taking a case over the airline’s JobKeeper payments to the High Court.

Unions representing Qantas workers will seek to have a judgment on the airline’s payment of the Jobkeeper allowance overturned by the High Court. Picture: Justin Benson-Cooper

Qantas’s handling of JobKeeper payments to employees is set to be challenged in the High Court, with unions convinced that workers have been left out of pocket.

A Federal Court ruling in September found in favour of unions, but the judgment was successfully appealed by Qantas in the full Federal Court.

The matter came down to Qantas’s interpretation of the JobKeeper guidelines, with the airline accused of manipulating fortnightly payments to reduce its wages bill.

As an example, unions said workers entitled to overtime were paid Jobkeeper in the place of those penalties, by spreading out the payments over a month.

Transport Workers Union assistant national secretary Nick McIntosh said the case amounted to wage theft. “Qantas has been refusing to pay workers fairly and battling them through the courts,” he said. “The federal government and Qantas board are refusing to hold them to account over this but the workers are taking a stand.”

Flight Attendants Association of Australia federal secretary Teri O’Toole said workers did not deserve such treatment. “Qantas workers are struggling on basic JobKeeper, they have spent public holidays and weekends away from their families and they should be paid fairly,” she said.

“They should not have to go to court to receive pay they have worked for.”

On Wednesday, the TWU, FAAA, Australian Services Union and ACTU will apply to the High Court for special leave to appeal the full Federal Court decision.

Unions have also sought leave to appeal another court ruling that found Qantas was not required to pay workers sick leave while stood down.

Maintenance crew working on Qantas planes at Brisbane airport. Picture: Liam Kidston.

A Qantas spokesman said the unions were wasting their members’ money by continuing legal action mid-pandemic.

“The court found we are administering JobKeeper as the government intended and we have always made JobKeeper payments according to advice from the Australian Taxation Office,” he said. “Tens of thousands of small and big businesses like Qantas have been severely impacted by COVID-19, (and) have been making JobKeeper payments in the same way as we have. This legal action creates further uncertainty for these businesses at the worst possible time.”

A Business Council of Australia spokesman said the court challenges were causing much anxiety for members, who had made every effort to follow ATO advice.

He said the full Federal Court ruling in December was a “great relief to many businesses” but the unions’ High Court challenge would generate more upheaval.

“We need to do everything possible to give businesses the certainty they need to get on with our biggest challenge, getting people back to work and creating new jobs for Australians,” he said.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus said the unions simply wanted justice for Qantas workers.

“Workers should be paid for the work they do. Qantas is forcing workers to work public holidays, weekends and overtime and then effectively denying them overtime and other penalties they have earned,” she said. “Workers are standing up to Qantas over this injustice and will take the case all the way to the High Court.”