In a historic win for trade unions, Australia’s federal court ruled in favor of the Transport Workers Union’s case against airline giant Qantas. The outsourcing scandal saw over 2,000 employees laid off amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Friday morning Justice Michael Lee said he was not convinced of the evidence put forth by Qantas – Australia’s most dominating airline – that the laying off of thousands of employees was not, at least in part, motivated by their union membership.
Qantas dismissed more than 2,000 ground handlers during the pandemic, whose roles were outsourced to save money for the corporation, which in 2019 recorded AU$18 billion ($13.2 billion) in revenue.
The TWU employed Josh Bornstein as its head lawyer to argue the airline’s actions contravened the Fair Work Act. The case was centered around claims that Qantas’s bullish moves, led by CEO Alan Joyce were made to squash the union’s power in wage negotiations.
The union’s lawyer said that Qantas had “lost” in the case, and highlighted that large companies have used outsourcing for decades to prevent employees from being able to collectively bargain with them, suggesting that the court’s decision should be used as precedent in future worker’s rights cases.
Qantas have denied any wrongdoing and in an official statement on Friday said that the judgment does not mean Qantas is required to reinstate workers or pay compensation or penalties,” claiming that the matters have not yet been considered by the court and they will oppose any such orders.
Qantas will also seek to have its appeal heard as soon as possible and before any remedy hearing. The company justified the outsourcing by claiming it would save its owners and investors AU$100 million (about $73.5 million) a year.
As part of their official statement in response to Friday’s ruling, Qantas called the union “hypocritical” and said their behavior – referring to their effort to protect workers’ rights – undermines the strong safety culture that exists throughout Australian aviation.
RT. com / ABC Flash Point Aviation News 2021.
Qantas has some of the best pilots but some of the worst food & service. A fried egg is not supposed to have the consistency of rubber. It could have been used as a Frisbee and the tea or coffee tasted like muddy water.
Joyce sold out to banking investment firm JP Morgan and their ilk by screwing over the small shareholders, diluted their shares, sunk the company into 4 billion debt, blew out 6,000 jobs. And this is who the corporate-owned media glorify?
Loud & Clear?
This court case does not obligate Qantas to take the fired employees back?
These giants (big business, Banks, local & international corporations…) are the pillars of the capitalist system. They are well protected not only against any loss but also injected financially by the system governors.
The fall of the evil empires?