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The TWU has lambasted Qantas for sending chief people officer Catherine Walsh to the Federal Court in the place of a more senior executive like chief executive Vanessa Hudson.
As reported in The Australian, the union’s barrister, Noel Hutley SC, questioned Qantas’ move to have Walsh front the court in Hudson’s place, given she joined Qantas in 2024 and was not involved in the illegal outsourcing of ground workers during the pandemic.
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“Ms Walsh had nothing to do with the events [of the outsourcing] and Your Honour will have noticed every time I cross-examined her about a particular event she said ‘well I wasn’t there, I can’t speak to that’,” he said.
“She was put forward by Qantas as speaking on behalf of Qantas, but one would have thought if you were truly contrite, you would put someone in the witness box who was there at the relevant time, who could say ‘I was part of the organisation when this decision was made, and it’s now changed its tune’.”
Qantas had been given “every opportunity to call Ms Hudson”, Justice Michael Lee noted.
The initial decision to sack staff was taken in 2020, but it was only late last year that the company finally agreed to set up a $120 million compensation fund.
Walsh on Monday offered a public apology for the move, saying Qantas was “in the wrong” and “deeply sorry” despite having repeatedly appealed the original decision and compensation fee amount in a case that dragged on for years.
Taking to the stand, Walsh admitted the years-long process for former employees was “no doubt tiring”.
“I want to reinforce that we are deeply sorry, and we apologise for the impact on the workers, the TWU, to the court for their time and to the family and friends that felt the impacts, we are deeply sorry,” she said.
Walsh’s remarks go further than those previously issued via a statement in October last year, where new chief executive Vanessa Hudson said the airline wanted to sincerely apologise to former employees “who were impacted by this decision”.
The TWU is seeking the maximum penalty of $121 million for Qantas, saying the airline has displayed little genuine remorse and the culture has not significantly changed; Qantas, meanwhile, is asking for a penalty in the “mid-range”.
Qantas earlier argued it had no choice but to remove the roles due to the uncertainty of COVID-19 and a potential $100 million a year cost savings the move could bring.
It meant the carrier removed operations at the 10 Australian airports where the work was done in-house, which included Adelaide, Alice Springs, Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Townsville.
The hearing before Justice Michael Lee continues.
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says:One hopes that Mr. Justice Lee is mindful of the TWU’s enthusiasm to inflict as much pain and punishment upon Qantas as is possible, I am sure he is!