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Qantas has agreed to pay the $120 million in compensation proposed by the Transport Workers Union (TWU) to former ground handlers who were illegally sacked by the airline in 2020.
The carrier and the TWU have agreed to set up a compensation fund in 2025, to be administered by the Maurice Blackburn law firm, for payments to be sent to 1,820 impacted former employees who were outsourced by Qantas.
Vanessa Hudson, the Qantas Group CEO, apologised in a statement to former employees and their families who were impacted by the outsourcing decision.
"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," Ms Hudson said.
Qantas has agreed to pay $120 million to former ground handlers who were illegally sacked. (AAP: Paul Miller)
The TWU said in a statement that the payouts would compensate workers for economic loss as well as hurt and suffering.
The agreement came after a four-year legal battle in the Federal Court, which found this year that Qantas had illegally outsourced the workers' jobs.
Justice Michael Lee ruled in October that Qantas would be required to pay varying degrees of compensation based on three employee "test cases".
Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson apologised again to workers impacted by the airline's decision to outsource ground handling services in 2020. (AAP: Dan Himbrechts)
Those cases included payouts of $30,000, $40,000 and $100,000 for three workers who suffered non-economic losses.
The federal court ruling came after two appeals Qantas lodged against previous verdicts as well as the High Court finding in 2023 that the airline broke the law when it stood down its ground crew members.
The final compensation figure will be capped at about 12 months' pay for affected workers, with Justice Lee agreeing with Qantas in October that to be eligible for payouts, the workers must have been sacked by late 2021 and their roles been outsourced.
The payouts will also cover compensation paid to the TWU and costs incurred in sending the funds to individual workers.
The TWU has described the illegal outsourcing, which happened while Alan Joyce was the airline's CEO, as "the largest case of illegal sackings in Australian history".
"Soon these brave men and women will receive long-awaited compensation in accordance with the principles set out in the Court's decision," Michael Kaine, the TWU's national secretary said in a statement.
"These workers helped build the Spirit of Australia. Many worked decades, proud to play their part in delivering the safety and service standards that made Qantas a national icon.
"Delivering justice to these workers is just the first step in turning Qantas around — but there's still a long way to go to bring back the flying kangaroo Australians used to love.
"Never again can we see Joyce-style tactics applied to wreck jobs and fight against workers receiving fair compensation.
"It is encouraging new CEO Vanessa Hudson has agreed to establish a pool to ensure these workers receive justice, but we need to see a Safe and Secure Skies Commission put in place to ensure it can never happen again."