Hundreds of Qantas workers walk off the job at major airports across Australia
Hundreds of Qantas ground crew and freight workers have walked off the job over calls for improved pay, job security and safety.
The 24-hour industrial action began on Wednesday at airports in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
As of 9am, a Qantas spokesman told Daily Mail no flights had been affected.
He said the majority of striking employees worked in freight operations, while those involved in passenger services were limited to ground crew supporting QantasLink operations in Sydney.
‘We are aware of planned industrial action by some of our freight and regional workgroups in Sydney and we have contingency plans in place,’ he said.
‘Importantly there will be no disruption to our customers.’
‘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.’
According to Qantas, fewer than 600 of its staff were eligible to take protected industrial action.
Hundreds of Qantas ground crew and freight workers have walked off the job over calls for improved pay, job security and safety
The Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) said that those on strike were split by former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce across three separate companies QAL, QGS and AAE.
They were seeking pay in line with industry standards, more full-time jobs, additional hours after years of wage suppression and wanted to be brought back under one Qantas banner amid safety concerns.
The union argued the split had drained experience from airports, leading to unsafe conditions for both workers and passengers.
It also pointed to the death of a Qantas freight worker on Father’s Day last year.
TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said workers were being ‘forced once again to strike’ because the alternative was ‘an industry of dangerously unsafe standards for them and passengers’.
‘Under Joyce, Qantas mastered the art of creating new companies just to pay people less and take away full-time roles—not to mention the largest illegal sackings in our nation’s history.
‘Qantas’ disdain for its workforce has turned careers that people were proud of into scraps of increasingly unsafe work, with a revolving-door workforce and experience in freefall.
‘Workers have been pitted against each other across different artificial companies so the airline can funnel more profits to executive bonuses.
The 24-hour industrial action began on Wednesday at airports in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide
‘It is the people of this airline that make it the Spirit of Australia, and they are standing up today to rebuild the careers that Qantas used to foster.’
Qantas rejected the union’s safety concerns, saying there had not been an increase in safety incidents since ground handling moved to Swissport more than five years ago and that recordable injuries had decreased.
The airline had been in discussions with the TWU over a new QGS agreement, including through proceedings in the Fair Work Commission in September.
It also put a proposed agreement directly to QGS employees aimed at delivering the changes workers had been seeking.
The proposed deal includes back pay dating back to September 2025, wage increases of up to 26 per cent and more secure full-time and part-time work opportunities.
