Qantas union workers will walk off the job at Melbourne Airport on Thursday, the first step in a larger national strike against the airline giant.
The Qantas Engineers Alliance, a union made up of the Australian Workers Union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and the Electrical Workers Union, said the industrial action would begin in Melbourne and then spread to all major airports across the country over the next two weeks.
“It is highly likely to impact Qantas flights in all major capital cities,” the union said on Wednesday evening.
This also means the travel plans of thousands of AFL fans from Sydney and Brisbane heading to Melbourne for Saturday’s grand final could be disrupted.
AMWU national secretary Steve Murphy said airline engineers were “undervalued, underpaid and undervalued”.
“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.’
The airline staff who will strike are from Qantas’ aircraft maintenance engineering teams (archive photo of a Qantas aircraft preparing for maintenance)
The employees taking part in the industrial action are from Qantas’ aircraft maintenance engineering teams.
The union’s 1,100-strong team of employees has been due to expire in June 2024, and the union is pushing for a 5 percent annual pay increase plus a 15 percent payout in the first year.
Workers will stage a series of work stoppages at airports across Australia on Thursday and then again next Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Although the union warned of flight disruptions, a Qantas spokesman said the company was prepared.
“We are taking contingency measures and do not currently expect this industrial action to have an impact on customers,” the spokesperson said.
Australians are warned the strike could spread to major cities over the next two weeks (pictured, passengers boarding a flight)
‘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.”