Qantas has been ordered to pay three workers $170,000 in a key court decision that sets a precedent for how much the airline owes another 1,700 illegally dismissed workers.
Qantas workers laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic are one legal step closer to receiving significant compensation for the national airline’s illegal dismissals.
The Transport Workers Union has pursued Qantas in the Federal Court after the company decided to outsource almost 1,700 ground staff jobs in November 2020.
After layoffs began, all of these employees were eventually laid off from the airline in March 2021.
On Monday, Judge Michael Lee ordered Qantas to pay $170,000 to three employees who were used as test cases during a lengthy hearing in March and May.
In July 2021, the judge concluded that the dismissals were intended to deprive workers of the opportunity to negotiate a new enterprise agreement and, as such, contravened labor law.
The amounts these workers receive are expected to form the basis for the total amount Qantas agrees to pay affected staff in future negotiations with the TWU.
Judge Lee concluded that the workers would have been laid off at the end of 2021 anyway, given that the airline is focused “like a laser” on cutting costs without regard for its employees.
The matter will return to court on November 15, when the judge will hear submissions on the total amount of compensation payable by Qantas.
Qantas illegally laid off around 1,700 workers during the dire economic circumstances of the pandemic
The TWU also calls for sanctions against the airline.
In December 2021, Judge Lee rejected a union bid to reinstate workers at Qantas after finding the proposal impractical.
Qantas unsuccessfully appealed to the full Federal Court and the High Court against the judge’s findings that the dismissals were unlawful.
The airline previously argued that the workers would have been laid off anyway in November 2020 due to the crippling impact of Covid lockdowns on the travel industry and therefore should not receive compensation.
TWU deputy secretary Nick McIntosh said: “This is finally the day of justice for 1,700 workers who did nothing wrong and were illegally dismissed.”
The ruling means Qantas will likely have to pay tens of millions of dollars to those laid-off workers.
McIntosh said the union expects total compensation costs to exceed $100 million.
“We will tell the court, given that this is the largest illegal looting over a mile in Australian history… this should be worth more than $200 million when all is said and done in the end,” he said.
“This should send a powerful message to businesses across Australia.”
The matter will return to court in November.