Overview
- The Transport Workers’ Union has notified planned 24‑hour strikes next week affecting about 600 Qantas Ground Services staff and about 100 Australian air Express workers to press bargaining leverage.
- Qantas disputes the union’s headline numbers and says roughly 650 employees are covered by the agreement with only about 400 TWU members eligible to take strike action.
- The union’s core demand is a single enterprise agreement to unite Qantas Ground Services, AaE, legacy Qantas Airlines Ltd roles and labour‑hire staff under one set of pay and conditions.
- The dispute traces to Qantas’ 2020 outsourcing of more than 1,800 ground roles, which a federal judge later ruled unlawful and led to a $90 million penalty plus about $120 million in payouts in 2025.
- The TWU links the workforce split to weakened tarmac experience and safety worries after a Qantas Freight worker’s death last year, while Qantas rejects claims of rising incidents and warns it has plans to limit disruption to freight and regional QantasLink services.