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Around a thousand Qantas engineers in most Australian capital cities walked off the job during peak hours, a continuation of action launched last week.
They are unhappy that Qantas is not meeting their wage demands and have timed the strike to coincide with a usually busy travel period, centered around football finals and school holidays.
They protested outside the airline’s headquarters in Sydney – the office of most Qantas executives.
The strikers say it is unfair that these executives earn millions of dollars in bonuses, while the strikers see their salary increases capped at 3 percent.
The company reported a net profit of $1.25 billion in the past financial year.
Discontent is perhaps most strongly expressed in the airline’s founding state of Queensland, where much of the crucial maintenance of the entire Qantas aircraft fleet is carried out.
Speaking in Brisbane with strikers: Australian Workers’ Union Queensland branch secretary Stacey Schinnerl.
According to her, for these workers, it is a long story of misfortune that must end.
“Over the past decade, our members have suffered four pay freezes, which has effectively meant that their real conditions have fallen, while the cost of living has soared. Over the past decade, their salaries have increased by only 12 percent. …while the CPI saw our cost of living increase by 23 percent.”
Ms Schinnerl explains how far apart workers and Qantas are.
“So we’ve been negotiating for several months. Essentially what these workers are looking for is a five percent increase per year, as well as a two-level increase. At the moment, Qantas’ offer is only three percent. percent per year, and that’s it.
Workers say Qantas owes them sacrifices during events such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
The reputation of Qantas, one of Australia’s largest and best-known companies, has taken some damage in recent years.
Ms Schinnerl played on this by pressuring Qantas to meet its workers’ demands.
“If there’s one positive thing this organization is always known for, it’s its fantastic safety record. And that safety record – and the fantastic level it’s at – is thanks to the workers who support me.”
The first Monday of the strike period, which is expected to last about two weeks, posed few problems for passengers.
The airline says there have been no flight disruptions or cancellations as a result of the industrial action.
The strikers say they are not only fighting for today’s workers, but also for those of tomorrow.
Gary Strauss is a member of the Queensland branch of the United Workers Union.
He says Australia is more dependent than most other countries on a healthy aviation industry – and that’s based on some interesting demographics.
“The aviation industry is interesting because it’s an aging workforce. And a lot of the younger workers coming in like the idea of working on a plane, they understand that keeping planes flying is vital to our economy Australia relies heavily on tourism and Qantas plays a big role in it.
However, he stresses that it’s not just about wanting to work for Qantas, but also having the means to do so.
A point clearly supported by Scott Reichman, of the electrical trades union.
“We have apprentices who should be coming into this industry – the future of the country – and getting paid $12 or $13 an hour. You just can’t pay the rent, pay your car loan and put food on the table. the table.”
Engineering and maintenance staff make up around ten percent of Qantas’ total workforce, or around 30,000 people.
In a statement, Qantas said it was committed to reaching an agreement that included annual pay increases, increased pay for apprentices, new career development opportunities and more advanced training.
But negotiations have continued since April and the corresponding company agreement expired in June.
According to Ms. Schinnerl, the conflict is not likely to end any time soon.
“You know what? Qantas has the power to end it today. The best case scenario here: this would be the first and last time we see this industrial action. I like to think positively, that Qantas will do what But, reality tells me that you will probably see us here again and again, for some time to come.”]]
Qantas says it has contingency measures in place if industrial action continues
