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Australia’s flag carrier is facing industrial action such as work stoppages in a pay stoush with its aircraft engineers, a development that could further escalate the airport chaos for travellers.
At least 700 licensed aircraft engineers at Qantas, its budget offshoot Jetstar and its fly-in fly-out charter service Network Aviation have voted to take industrial action as early as next Monday, which may culminate in work stoppages of up to 12 hours and a refusal to work overtime.
Qantas’ licensed engineers are preparing for industrial action by the end of the month.Credit:Louise Kennerley
More than 90 per cent of members of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) who responded to a postal ballot indicated their support for the overtime ban and strikes if the airlines do not come to the table.
Qantas’ engineers had previously asked for a one-off pay rise of 12 per cent, while their counterparts at Jetstar had asked for a 15 per cent increase over four years and those at Perth-based Network Aviation sought a 20 per cent raise over the same four-year period.
The negotiations between Qantas and the union commenced in 2019, were paused due to the pandemic but then resumed last December, to no avail. Jetstar and Network Aviation engineers restarted their negotiations in May.
ALAEA federal secretary Steve Purvinas stressed on Thursday that the engineers want to avoid disrupting passengers as much as possible. The action will begin with one-minute work stoppages across the airlines by the end of August with a view to escalate the action into longer strikes if the company doesn’t back down.
‘This is not an action against passengers, this is something we need to do to pressure the airline to put a reasonable offer on the table.’
Union official Steve Purvinas
“A one-minute stoppage is not going to harm any airline or passenger and will also demonstrate our willingness to negotiate in good faith and our not wanting to harm the airline,” Purvinas said, adding that he hoped the “token” move would be enough to prompt management to change their view.
If longer strikes were to eventuate, the union would offer an alternate workforce at a significantly higher pay rate to ensure minimum disruption to passengers, Purvinas explained.