Qantas travellers have been put on alert for flight disruptions as engineers stage a fortnight of strike action ahead of the football finals.
The action began in Melbourne on Thursday morning and will spread across the country in the coming days.
Unions are pushing for a 15 percent pay rise this year and an additional five percent each year going forward, which they say would offset three-and-a-half years of pay freezes.
The deal under negotiation covers about 1,100 aircraft maintenance workers, or about 45 percent of the airline’s engineers.
Its unions warn that the measure is likely to affect Qantas flights in all capital cities, but the airline does not agree.
Qantas posted a profit of $1.25 billion for the 2023-24 financial year, down 28.3 per cent from the previous 12 months.
The strike launched by Qantas engineers in Melbourne is expected to spread across the country
Chief Executive Vanessa Hudson previously said the airline had deliberately reduced its margins on international travel as it worked to balance the needs of shareholders, employees and customers.
Australian Workers Union national secretary Paul Farrow said the airline had refused to accept a “fair deal”.
“You can’t expect to announce billions of dollars in profits and bonuses to executives while at the same time telling the engineers who keep your planes safe to bring less and less money home to their families,” said Paul Farrow, national secretary of the Australian Workers’ Union.
‘There will come a time when people will say enough is enough.’
Australian Manufacturing Workers Union national secretary Steve Murphy says workers feel undervalued and unappreciated.
“If you’ve had a bad experience with Qantas, well, that’s nothing compared to how Qantas makes its employees feel every day,” he said.
‘Our highly skilled members deserve fair wages for the incredible work they do to keep us all safe in the air.’
A large number of interstate visitors are expected to arrive in Melbourne in the coming days in the run-up to the AFL Finals, but there were no large queues or mass match cancellations early on Thursday morning.
Further industrial action is expected on Monday 30 September, Wednesday 2 October and Friday 4 October, days before the NRL Grand Final in Sydney.
The airline does not believe that the measure will affect passengers.
“We are implementing contingencies and do not currently expect this industrial action to have an impact on customers,” a spokesperson said.
‘We have held a series of meetings with the unions and have made progress on several points.
“We want to reach an agreement that includes wage increases and lifestyle benefits for our people.”