Qantas workers begin 24-hour strike at four Australian airports, union says

Airport workers at Qantas started a 24-hour strike on Thursday at airports in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, Business Recorder reported. Staff are pressing for higher pay, more secure work and stronger safety standards, according to the Transport Workers' Union (TWU). The walkout includes employees of Qantas Ground Services, freight operations at Australian Air Express and the regional carrier QantasLink.

The workers want pay rises in line with industry norms, more full-time roles and one Qantas structure bringing work groups together. The union argues that Qantas's use of several subsidiaries has split the workforce and weakened safety. In Sydney, as many as 400 safety screeners will also take part in stoppages of two hours, twice, plus a further three-hour halt on September 28.

TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said strike action was a last resort, adding that workers were being maimed and killed while keeping critical services running. The union also called for a fundamental reset of the airline's labour structure after years of cost-cutting. Qantas had outsourced over 1,800 ground jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic, an action later ruled illegal, and a court last year ordered it to pay a record A$90 million ($64.03 million) fine. The airline had not yet replied to Reuters, which had asked it for comment.