Qantas flights could be impacted this week as engineers plan a nationwide walkout.
More than 1000 engineers are set to walk off the job in protest over wage negotiations, with peak-hour flights on Monday set to be most impacted.
The Qantas Engineers’ Alliance said flights between 7am and 9am at major capital city airports Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth and Adelaide could be affected during the stoppages.
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The strike, expected to go for two weeks, kicked off in Melbourne last week before going nationwide.
Industrial action began on Thursday as engine and components engineers downed tools, while line maintenance engineers will stop work on Monday.
Line maintenance engineers tow and marshall aircraft, as well as perform turnaround checks once planes land to make sure they can safely take off again.
The alliance is calling for 5 per cent per year and a 15 per cent first-year payment to make up for three-and-a-half years of wage freezes.
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Qantas workers have been in negotiations since April, with their enterprise agreement having expired at the end of June.
“These workers hold special and valuable skills that take a decade to build up. They were essential workers during the pandemic, and made sacrifices so Qantas would survive,” AMWU national secretary Steve Murphy said.
“Qantas needs to pay that debt back. Respect your workers, value their skills, pay them what they’re worth.”
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Qantas said in a statement that it did not expect customers will be impacted by Monday’s work stoppages.
“Over the past four days, we have seen no disruptions to our network as a result of the industrial action from some of our engineering workgroups,” a spokesperson said.
“Our teams have done a great job helping customers safely get to their destination over the busy weekend with school holidays and the footy finals.
“We have contingencies in place and don’t expect Monday’s planned strike action to have an impact on customers, or their travel plans.”
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