Qantas workers are set to intensify their strike as aircraft towing engineers prepare to walk off work during peak flights to secure better pay.
More than 1,000 engineers will strike on Monday as union members push for a 15 per cent pay rise in the first year of a new enterprise deal, followed by five per cent rises in subsequent years.
Flights between 7am and 9am at major airports in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth “will likely be affected”, the Qantas Engineers Alliance said in a statement on Sunday.
Qantas said several days of strike action had not affected passengers, including those traveling to the AFL grand final.
“Over the last four days, we have seen no disruption to our network as a result of the strike action by some of our engineering work groups,” a Qantas spokesperson said on Sunday.
“We have contingencies in place and do not expect the strike planned for Monday to have an impact on customers or their travel plans.”
The alliance is made up of workers represented by the Australian Workers Union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and the Electrical Workers Union.
Qantas said several days of strike had not affected passengers
AWU national secretary Paul Farrow said the union did not want to delay passengers but had no choice.
“I know no engineer would like the idea of delaying passengers,” he said.
‘As a former aeronautical engineer, I know there is real pride in getting people where they need to go safely. But the management has cornered them.”
The deal being negotiated covers about 1,100 aircraft maintenance workers, representing about 45 percent of the airline’s engineers.
The workers have been in negotiations since April, while their enterprise agreement expired at the end of June.
Qantas made a net profit of $1.25 billion in the 2023/24 financial year, down 28 per cent on the previous year.