The Federal Court of Australia has ruled that, in November 2020, Qantas illegally dismissed 1,700 ground workers at 10 airports across the country and replaced them with contractors.
The Australian flag carrier has been ordered by the court to pay three staff members AU 170,000 ($113,000). The amounts the three workers will receive break down as AU 30,000 ($20,000) AU 40,000 ($27,000) and AU 100,000 ($67,000) respectively, to cover “non-economic loss”.
The three staff members’ compensation rulings are being considered as ‘test cases’ on which to base what the remaining 1,697 ground workers might receive from the carrier.
Trade Workers Union (TWU) Australia, who filed the case on behalf of the ground workers, estimates that the total compensation for all workers, to be decided in November 2024, will amount to more than AU 100 million ($ 67 million).
“Now everybody knows how Qantas treats its workers. Today is vindication for what we’ve been fighting for over the last three years,” Damien Pollard, one of the illegally outsourced Qantas workers said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Qantas Group issued an apology via a statement, saying it accepts the Federal Court’s ruling on compensation and “will work to expedite the payments”.
Qantas Group Chief Executive Officer Vanessa Hudson said: “We sincerely apologize to our former employees who were impacted by this decision and we know that the onus is on Qantas to learn from this.”
Hudson added: “We recognise the emotional and financial impact this has had on these people and their families. We hope that this provides closure to those who have been affected.”