Qantas domestic cabin crew has voted unanimously in favour of industrial action to challenge the airline to make them a better pay offer after 99 per cent of 1200 flight attendants said enough is enough.
While no date for strikes or a deadline for a return offer from Qantas has been announced, the Flight Attendants Association of Australia (FAAA) said cabin crew “would take a measured approach to any action to minimise disruption to the travelling public.”
The FAAA’s action could include strikes for up to 24 hours, overtime bans, and a “withdrawal from boarding responsibilities”, which could include staff remaining on the aircraft as passengers walk on the plane.
FAAA National secretary Teri O’Toole said the crew simply wanted Qantas to come back to the table with a fair offer that doesn’t send flight attendants’ pay and conditions backwards.
Under a new enterprise agreement currently offered by the airline, cabin crew would have shifts extended from 9.45 hours to 12 hours and up to 14 hours in the event of disruption.
At the same time, rest periods between shifts could be reduced to 10 hours, which Ms O’Toole said would only increase the issue of fatigue.
The news comes off the back of Qantas this week announcing an upgrade in its profit expectations for the first half of the financial year 2023.
Continued travel demand, soaring airfares and reduced capacity have contributed to the airline saying it now expects a pre-tax profit of between $1.35 – $1.45 billion.
This amounts to a $150 million increase in the profit forecast given in early October 2022.
Meanwhile, operational performance has continued to improve compared to recent months, with Qantas this week being ranked as the most on-time domestic airline in October.
Ms O’Toole said the strength of support for the protected industrial action ballot showed “just how out of touch Qantas management was with staff”.
“Our members have languished under expired agreements for several years while having to bear the burden of stand-downs and the Covid pandemic,” she said.
“Meanwhile, the demand for travel has rebounded strongly, and Qantas is enjoying multi-billion dollar profits. Yet Qantas is asking its loyal employees, who stood by the airline through its worst days, to take pay freezes and sub-inflation pay rises while demanding massive productivity gains.”
“With this ballot outcome, flight attendants have declared enough is enough,” Ms O’Toole said.
“Qantas can’t keep bullying them into accepting poor pay deals while threatening their jobs while forecasting multi-billion dollar profits and huge executive bonuses.”
A Qantas spokesman said the ballot outcome was “very disappointing” and urged the FAAA to honour their commitment to minimise any disruption to travellers.
