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Qantas will today begin Federal Court proceedings to decide its penalty for illegally outsourcing ground handling roles mid-pandemic.
The TWU has called for the airline to be fined a maximum of $121 million, in addition to the $120 million in compensation it’s required to pay to 1,800 affected employees.
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It comes after the High Court in 2023 upheld a ruling that the Flying Kangaroo illegally sacked workers, following a protracted legal case that dragged through the courts.
“Not only was it an appalling act to get rid of a loyal workforce, it was the biggest case of illegal sackings in Australian corporate history,” Michael Kaine, national secretary of the TWU, said.
“The penalty to Qantas must reflect this and send a message to every other company in Australia that you cannot sack your workers to prevent them from using their industrial rights.
“Over 1800 loyal Qantas workers will never get their jobs back after working at the airline for decades.
“Though they are now receiving compensation, it cannot make up for the last four gruelling years have seen relationship breakdowns, mental anguish and financial burden.”
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.
However, it eventually agreed to set up a fund following the High Court ruling, which is administered by Maurice Blackburn Lawyers on behalf of the TWU, to compensate the 1,820 affected workers.
The final figure includes the approximately 1,700 workers who lost their jobs, and around 120 who were redeployed within Qantas and suffered non-economic losses.
According to Qantas, the fund will pay workers directly, with compensation amounts covering both economic and non-economic loss, as well as compensation to the TWU and any costs incurred in managing the distribution.
“This is an important step in bringing closure to these individuals, and I want to reiterate our sincere apologies to those impacted and their families,” Vanessa Hudson, chief executive of Qantas Group, said.
“We know this has been a difficult period for those affected and are pleased we have been able to work closely with the TWU to expedite this process and resolve it ahead of Christmas.”
Before the final court ruling, Qantas, under the leadership of former CEO Alan Joyce, strongly argued against the idea that it had committed any wrongdoing with its decision to outsource roles.
In December 2020, for example, it issued a furious, 600-word response that compared the union claims with “facts”.
[email protected]
says:I am/was under the firm impression that the downsizing/outsourcing was due to uneconomic business activity resulting in a need for an operational change of direction. How the judgement of, – preventing workers from using their industrial rights was handed down to me beggars’ belief. I have to accept that judgement, I don’t have to agree with it.
Richard Daniell
says:The problem here is that the union guy Kaine is a Qantas hater and is so ridiculously conflicted here that he should have been replaced years ago.
Granted the courts found that the company did the wrong thing, but what good is fining them $120m going to do ??
Who gets the money, not the members or workers, this is just a vicious attempt at corporate espionage by legal means using the court to weaken the company that he hates so much.
Common sense here is what’s needed by the good judge.