Qantas axed 2,000 ground-handling jobs partly because of union ties, court rules
The Transport Workers Union has won a partial victory in its federal court case against Qantas over the company’s decision to outsource 2,000 ground-handling jobs. The federal court on Friday ruled that Qantas was in part driven by the fact that many of the axed workers were union members with stronger bargaining capabilities. Justice Michael Lee said it was difficult to establish the motivations behind the outsourcing decision, but he was not convinced the airlinewas not in some way trying to limit workers taking industrial action. The judgment noted that the TWU argued the airline took advantage of a “vanishing window of opportunity to rid itself of the influence of the Union” presented by the Covid pandemic. Qantas maintained the outsourcing measure was a necessary financial measure that could save $100m annually. It is unclear what impact the judgment will have on the workers, with the TWU and Qantas set to argue how the matter should proceed. While Lee said the legal action was not a “test case” on outsourcing, the TWU’s national secretary Michael Kaine heralded the decision as a “watershed moment for workers in Australia”. Kaine said the union would now be “seeking meetings with Qantas” to return axed workers to their former jobs. “This ruling calls a halt to shifting responsibility for workers and outsourcing them onto third parties on a low cost, take-it or leave-it contract… Qantas management have serious questions to answer after this judgment,” Kaine said. Qantas plans to appeal the decision. <br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2021-07-30/oneworld/qantas-axed-2-000-ground-handling-jobs-partly-because-of-union-ties-court-rules
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Qantas axed 2,000 ground-handling jobs partly because of union ties, court rules
The Transport Workers Union has won a partial victory in its federal court case against Qantas over the company’s decision to outsource 2,000 ground-handling jobs. The federal court on Friday ruled that Qantas was in part driven by the fact that many of the axed workers were union members with stronger bargaining capabilities. Justice Michael Lee said it was difficult to establish the motivations behind the outsourcing decision, but he was not convinced the airlinewas not in some way trying to limit workers taking industrial action. The judgment noted that the TWU argued the airline took advantage of a “vanishing window of opportunity to rid itself of the influence of the Union” presented by the Covid pandemic. Qantas maintained the outsourcing measure was a necessary financial measure that could save $100m annually. It is unclear what impact the judgment will have on the workers, with the TWU and Qantas set to argue how the matter should proceed. While Lee said the legal action was not a “test case” on outsourcing, the TWU’s national secretary Michael Kaine heralded the decision as a “watershed moment for workers in Australia”. Kaine said the union would now be “seeking meetings with Qantas” to return axed workers to their former jobs. “This ruling calls a halt to shifting responsibility for workers and outsourcing them onto third parties on a low cost, take-it or leave-it contract… Qantas management have serious questions to answer after this judgment,” Kaine said. Qantas plans to appeal the decision. <br/>
