Qantas has been ordered to pay $90 million for illegally outsourcing ground handling jobs during the pandemic.
Fifty million dollars of the penalty will be paid to the TWU which mounted the case on behalf of the more than 1800 ground handlers who were impacted by the move.
The Federal Court found the outsourcing of ground handling work in 2020 was illegal.
Federal Court Justice, Michael Lee, said Qantas had shown the “wrong kind of sorry”, with the airline more worried about the impact on the company rather than the impact the case had on the illegally sacked workers.
The TWU had called for the airline to be fined a maximum of $121 million in addition to the $120 million in compensation it was ordered to pay affected employees in December 2024.
Qantas had argued the court impose a “mid-range” penalty of between $40 million and $80 million.
Maurice Blackburn Lawyers principal Josh Bornstein said the penalty is the largest ever ordered by a court for violations of industrial relations laws in Australian history, and meant corporate Australia was on notice that courts would not tolerate blatant attacks on workers’ rights”.
Mr Borstein said under former CEO Alan Joyce’s leadership, the airline seized the opportunity presented by the COVID pandemic to realise its long-held aim of ridding its operations of the TWU and its members working as baggage handlers and ground staff.
After Justice Lee handed down his decision, Qantas CEO, Vanessa Hudson said in statement: “We sincerely apologise to each and every one of the 1820 ground handling employees and to their families who suffered as a result.”
“The decision to outsource five years ago, particularly during such an uncertain time, caused genuine hardship for many of our former team and their families.
“Over the past 18 months we’ve worked hard to change the way we operate as part of our efforts to rebuild trust with our people and our customers. This remains our highest priority as we work to earn back the trust we lost.”