Hundreds of Qantas engineers kick off fortnight of strikes

Hundreds of Qantas engineers have downed tools today in Melbourne to mark the start of two weeks of strikes.

The industrial action kicked off in the Victorian capital but there are plans for it to go nationwide, at all major airports.

Qantas said there was no impact on customers today, but a tech outage at the airline's subsidiary Jetstar added to traveller's woes.

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Melbourne Airport said a technical issue with the Terminal 4 baggage system impacted check-in for Jetstar domestic services this morning.

"The issue was resolved around 8am and check-in resumed as normal," a Melbourne Airport spokesperson said.

Up to 1100 Qantas staff will be involved in two weeks of strike action from three unions including the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU), the Australian Workers' Union (AWU) and Electrical Trades Union (ETU).

"We have contingencies in place for the industrial action planned on Friday and the weekend and, like today, don't currently expect this industrial action to have an impact on customers," a Qantas spokesperson said.

"We've held a series of meetings with the unions and made progress on a number of items.

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"We want to reach an agreement that includes pay rises and lifestyle benefits for our people."

In their fight for increased wages, the alliance is calling for 5 per cent per year and a 15 per cent first-year payment to make up for three-and-a-half years of wage freezes.

"Our highly skilled members deserve fair wages for the incredible work they do to keep us all safe in the air," AMWU national secretary Steve Murphy said.

"As a former aircraft engineer I know they never take industrial action lightly. On this occasion their hand has been forced because Qantas management is refusing to countenance a fair deal," AWU national secretary Paul Farrow said.

"We know Qantas has been struggling to attract new skilled engineers who are flocking to other employers," ATU national secretary Paul Farrow said.

The strike action comes ahead of the AFL grand final this weekend.

Qantas recently posted a $1.25 billion profit in the 2023-24 financial year, which was down by 28 per cent from the prior year.

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