Strike by Qantas ground staff expected to impact freight operations
Updated . First published at
Hundreds of Qantas ground crew staff are walking off the job on Wednesday in a 24-hour nationwide strike, with freight operations expected to be disrupted.
The industrial action at Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth airports is expected to disrupt freight operations, but it won’t impact domestic or international passenger services.
Qantas freight flights are set to be disrupted by a strike on Wednesday. 9News
Striking workers are demanding an urgent overhaul of pay, safety and job security.
Qantas says there will be no impact on passenger flights and it has back-up plans in place.
“We are aware of planned industrial action by some of our freight and regional workgroups in Sydney and we have contingency plans in place. Importantly there will be no disruption to our customers,” a company spokesperson said.
“We remain committed to reaching agreements with our employees that deliver substantial pay increases and reflect the priorities they have told us are important to them.”
The Transport Workers Union claim the impacted staff were split under former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce across three separate companies to drive down pay and conditions.
It claims the move has driven down safety standards for workers and passengers.
“These workers used to be proud to say they work for the Flying Kangaroo, just as the public used to be proud of this airline,” TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said.
“But that won’t happen again until Qantas properly invests in its workforce, with pay in line with industry standards, more full-time jobs, and an end to workers being pitted against each other in competition.”
Qantas unlawfully made more than 1800 ground staff redundant during the pandemic and outsourced their jobs. AP
The staff at the heart of the dispute are the last remaining Qantas ground workers, after 1800 of their colleagues were illegally outsourced during the pandemic in 2020.
Qantas in 2025 was ordered by the Federal Court to pay $90 million over the illegal outsourcing of 1800 baggage handlers, cleaners and ground staff in 2020.
The airline also agreed to pay a $120 million compensation payment.
Qantas has been contacted for comment.
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