Hundreds of Qantas ground workers are planning to strike for at least 24 hours next week, over what they allege are unfair work and pay conditions. The escalating dispute follows the airline’s major fallout with the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) after illegally firing 1,800 of its workers. The industrial action will take place next week on Wednesday, Sept. 23 and Thursday, Sept. 24 across Australia.
600 Qantas Employees Prepare to Strike
Workers at Qantas Ground Services (QGS) as well as Australian Air Express (AAE) are preparing to partake in industrial action. The workers will strike in Victoria on Wednesday, Sept. 23, and across the rest of Australia on Thursday, Sept. 24.
The airline’s QGS and AAE agreements cover around 700 employees who primarily work on Qantas Freight and QantasLink services at Sydney Airport (SYD).
The series of employee complaints have come as a result of what the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) has labelled “corporate greed on steroids”.
The Transport Workers’ Union has said that the primary dispute between Qantas and its employees concerns Qantas’ use of subsidiaries. TWU claims this has prevented attempts to bring pay and job security for ground workers in line with industry standards.
The union has said that the multiple enterprise agreements currently in place for ground staff and freight handlers, implemented by Qantas’ previous management, should be replaced with one agreement.
The TWU’s National Secretary Michael Kaine made a statement regarding the upcoming industrial action:
“Qantas will tell you that it has changed, but workers and passengers know better: this is an industry in crisis. In Sydney planes are almost colliding, critical services are horrendously understaffed, and workers are being killed and injured. This action comes just over a year after a Qantas Freight worker was tragically killed on Father’s Day, with Qantas taking no concrete steps to fix a revolving door of casual, insecure work which has led to shocking safety failures.”
Qantas in Trouble Yet Again
In light of the news that Qantas ground workers will be striking, the airline has reassured customers that it has contingency plans in place to hopefully minimise the impact of the strikes on its passengers.
The airline also confirmed it was engaging in talks with the TWU and would continue to do so in order to resolve the employee complaints raised. A spokesperson for the airline told Australian Aviation that the airline “remains committed to reaching an agreement with our Qantas Ground Services employees that includes annual pay rises for our people.”
They also said:
“Discussions through the Fair Work Commission have been constructive and negotiations are continuing. Our focus is on an agreement that addresses what employees have told us matters most, including pay and more full-time opportunities.”
Qantas has been involved in multiple high-profile employee disputes within the last few years. The most recent of which occurred when a ground worker employed by Qantas was killed whilst working at Sydney Airport (SYD).
Following the tragic incident, the TWU called for serious investigations into Qantas’ safety and training standards. It claimed the airline was choosing to outsource large numbers of workers who were inadequately trained and briefed on safety practices, rather than using workers from its existing pool of experienced employees. The union also alleged that the Australian airline had received several employee complaints regarding its inadequate safety measures prior to the accident.
The airline came under further criticism following mass layoffs imposed during the COVID pandemic. More than 1,800 ground workers had their employment illegally terminated by the airline and were replaced with outsourced staff in 2020. Qantas claimed the measure was a financial necessity.
The TWU successfully challenged this decision and in 2025, an Australian federal judge fined the airline AU$90 million. This is the largest financial penalty to date to be issued to an Australian company under the Fair Work Act.
What do you think of this latest complaint raised against Qantas? Let us know in the comments below.
