The Australian aircarrier thought it could get away with laying off staff during the COVID crisis | Credit: Karolis Kavolelis/Shutterstock
An Australian court has fined airline giant Qantas a record A$90m (£43m; $59m) for illegally sacking at least 1,800 ground workers during the COVID pandemic. Australia’s Transport Workers’ Union said it welcomed the penalty, which is the largest by a court for violations of industrial relations laws in the country’s history.
“We sincerely apologise to each and every one of the 1,820 ground handling employees and to their families who suffered as a result,” Qantas Group chief executive Vanessa Hudson said. “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.” Australia’s biggest airline has fought a years-long court battle because of its decision in 2020 to outsource its ground operations staff. At the time, the aircarrier argued it was an unavoidable financial measure as the aviation industry came to a standstill.
The decision marked the “end of a David and Goliath five-year battle” and is a “moment of justice for loyal workers who’d loved their jobs at the airline,” said the transport union in a statement, the BBC reported. Federal Court Justice Michael Lee said in his ruling that he wanted the fine to serve as a “real deterrence” to other employers and discourage them from believing they can “get away” with such measures.
It may not be big enough
But it may not be big enough to deter other companies from doing the same, as the airline may have saved even more money by outsourcing its staff during the pandemic, Dan Trindade, an employment law expert from legal firm Clayton Utz, told the BBC. “If it’s not seen as sufficient deterrence, the government may face calls to increase penalties,” he added. After the decision, Michael Kaine, the national secretary of the TWU, said, “Against all the odds, we took on a behemoth … that had shown itself to be ruthless, and we won.”
