Qantas workers illegally laid off when Covid-19 took hold in Australia in 2020 would have lost their jobs anyway when the virulent delta strain reared its head a year later, a judge heard.
The airline has been sued by the Transport Workers Union in Federal Court after laying off almost 1,700 ground employees in November 2020.
In July 2021, Judge Michael Lee found that the measure was designed to deprive workers of the ability to negotiate a new enterprise agreement and, as such, contravened labor law.
Qantas workers illegally sacked when Covid-19 took hold in Australia in 2020 would have lost their jobs anyway when the virulent delta strain reared its head a year later, a judge heard (file image)
Qantas and the union were back in court on Wednesday, when the judge heard further submissions about how much compensation should be paid to three workers who lost their jobs and were being used as test cases.
The airline previously argued that the workers would have been laid off anyway in November 2020 and should not receive any pay.
There were other legal reasons for outsourcing, such as the company’s cost reduction during the pandemic, he said.
On Wednesday, Qantas lawyer Michael Dalton SC argued that if the decision to outsource had never been made in 2020, the company would have taken steps to lay off staff in August 2021 as the delta strain further stifled activity. national and international airline.
Following an internal tender process, the workers would have lost their jobs in February or March 2022, the court was told.
This situation reflected the “unusual concatenation of events” that Judge Lee found occurred in 2020 regarding Covid-19, lockdowns and border closures, Dalton said.
—Are you effectively saying that I should consider it essentially a certainty? Judge Lee asked.
“Almost, we say it’s very likely,” Mr. Dalton responded.
In 2021, the airline had already laid off 10,000 staff, laid off thousands more and sold its land in the Sydney suburb of Mascot, the court was told.
“Everything was on the table at that point,” Mr. Dalton said.
Judge Lee said everything he had seen in the case showed a company focused on cutting costs as quickly as possible in a catastrophic set of circumstances.
“Qantas intended to do everything possible to save as much money as possible in this process, regardless of how it affected employees,” he said.
Qantas is being sued by the Transport Workers Union in the Federal Court after sacking almost 1,700 ground employees in November 2020 (file image)
Representing the TWU, lawyer Philip Boncardo rejected arguments that Qantas would have considered outsourcing in August 2021.
At that time, and over the following months, the airline had announced that it expected borders to open after the vaccine rollout and expected air activity to fully take off in early 2022, Boncardo said.
However, Judge Lee noted that these positive announcements were made when the airline pocketed $100 million for illegal employee dismissals in November 2020.
Boncardo also argued that Qantas’ decision-making was tainted in 2020 and that there was no evidence to show its executive would have acted legally the following year.
When determining compensation, the judge will have to consider factors such as whether the employees looked for other work, what social security payments they received and whether the jobs they took paid more than their Qantas salary.
Once the judge issues findings for the three employees in the test case, the union and the airline are expected to be able to determine how much compensation is owed to all laid-off staff.
The TWU is also seeking sanctions against Qantas, although these will be determined at a later date.
In December 2021, Judge Lee rejected a union bid to reinstate workers at Qantas after finding the proposal impractical.
Qantas unsuccessfully appealed to both the Full Court and the High Court the judge’s findings that the dismissals were unlawful.
The hearing continues Thursday.
