Union warns Qantas passengers strikes may hit AFL grand final travel plans

Ticket holders trying to make the AFL grand final in Melbourne on Saturday are being warned by unions their flights might be affected by strike action by Qantas engineers.

As many as 1100 staff involved in Qantas maintenance are participating in the protected industrial action, which kicked off in Melbourne and will now expand to other states. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

Ticket holders trying to make the AFL grand final in Melbourne on Saturday are being warned by unions their flights might be affected by strike action by Qantas engineers, which began on Thursday.

As revealed in The Australian on Wednesday, as many as 1100 staff involved in maintenance are participating in the protected industrial action, which kicked off in Melbourne and will now expand to other states.

The strikes come as airlines gear up for one of the busiest weekends on record due to the football grand final being held in Melbourne, even thought the finalists are from Brisbane and Sydney.

National Secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, Steve Murphy, said today’s action, scheduled to finish at 6pm, is a “shot across the bow to the Qantas”, and strike action may affect AFL goers.

“It may well impact flights in and out of all capital cities … it’s likely this will escalate over the course of this week,” he said.

Qantas denied the strikes will impact people flying to Melbourne for the AFL, adding that issues today were instead due to the Airservices’ ground delay program in Sydney due to the miserable weather.

“We have contingencies in place for the industrial action planned on Friday and the weekend and, like today, don’t currently expect this industrial action to have an impact on customers,” a spokesperson said.

It’s been more than a decade since there was a strike by Qantas engineers, who are a key part of the airline’s exceptional safety record.

Back in 2011, baggage handlers, pilots and engineers participated in rolling actions that triggered former chief executive Alan Joyce to take the drastic step of grounding the entire fleet, deliberately inconveniencing 80,000 customers in a ruthless game of chicken with the unions.

In this current industrial action, the unions involved are the AMWU; the Australian Workers Union; and the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia.

This group is known as the Qantas Engineers Alliance and comprises three of the 14 unions that operate within Australia’s biggest airline.

The workers approved for strike account for just under half of the airline’s engineers and are responsible for engine and general maintenance, as well as line-maintenance workers at the gate making sure aircraft are prepped and ready to fly, and all the visual checks.

The engineers are seeking a 25 per cent pay rise over the course of their three-year enterprise bargaining agreement after their wages were almost frozen over the previous four years.

The industrial action poses a major problem for Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson.

Ms Hudson is trying to repair the damage to the brand done under predecessor Alan Joyce, with the airline becoming the most complained about company in Australia for two years in a row.

Under Mr Joyce, Qantas illegally fired 1500 baggage handlers and is awaiting a verdict from the Federal Court over the fines it will have to pay. The airline also agreed earlier this year to pay $120m to settle a dispute with the competition regulator over selling airfares on flights that it had already cancelled.

Customers and the politicians are still to be convinced Ms Hudson can present a different culture among senior ranks at the airline.

The CEO has taken a “pragmatic” approach to several of its other unions, recently locking in pay deals of up to 30 per cent for short-haul flight attendants and pilots not employed directly by the Qantas Group, as it seeks to comply with new same work same pay regulations. It also extended the pay rise to include international cabin crew who are likely not covered by those regulations, which some insiders have said was “too generous”.

Just last month Qantas unveiled its second highest profit on record and Ms Hudson has been taking steps to try and improve the airline’s relationships with all stakeholders including staff.

At a strategy briefing at the Brisbane heavy maintenance hangar, a number of engineers conducted a “walk out” before Ms Hudson took to the microphone to deliver her vision.

Mr Murphy said he is still to see any signs that Ms Hudson will be different from Mr Joyce.

“We’ve still got this unfair wages policy and a kind of them and us rule where the executives and the CEO: ‘It’s okay to pay them really well and get bonuses, but (engineering) workers have a 3 per cent cap’,” Mr Murphy said.

“We made the sacrifice when they needed us to. We were collaborative and cooperative during the hard times, or now has a chance to repay that in a very reasonable ask. And all we’re saying is that workers want to just feel valued.”

Originally published as Union warns Qantas passengers strikes may hit AFL grand final travel plans