Four years after 1700 Qantas workers were sacked and outsourced, and a year after the High Court agreed that it was illegal, Qantas was ordered by the Federal Court on October 21 to compensate them.
Qantas sacked 1700 permanent workers without notice, or a reasonable cause, in 2020, outsourcing their jobs to temporary hire companies. It was the largest case of illegal sackings in Australian history.
Four years ago, the Transport Workers Union (TWU) successfully challenged the illegal sackings, despite Qantas fighting it all the way to the High Court.
The sacked workers were hit hard by sackings: many suffered mental illness, family breakdowns and had difficulty finding new work.
Referring to the recent court decision, the TWU said the judge, Justice Michael Lee, rejected Qantas’ argument that he should “surgically remove” illegal conduct and not award any compensation for economic loss.
“This type of legal delaying tactic has seen Qantas drag its own workforce through the courts for nearly four years to try and deny them justice.”
Three unanimous rulings from the Federal Court and High Court had found Qantas breached the Fair Work Act by outsourcing the workers to prevent them accessing industrial rights to collectively bargain and take protected industrial action, the TWU said.
Lee determined that all three test cases are entitled to compensation for economic loss, hurt and suffering.
The court ruled economic compensation be limited to 12 months following the outsourcing decision and non-economic compensation amounts would be paid from between $30,000, $40,000 and $100,000, based on each of the test cases.
TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said the workers had been vindicated.
“Qantas must do everything in its power to ensure appropriate compensation to workers.”
He said the union “took on Australia’s biggest corporate bully at a time workers were told they were just a casualty of the pandemic”. But they were really “victims of a systematic attempt by Qantas to decimate the pay and conditions of its workforce”.
“This unprecedented mass illegal sacking event was the swansong of [former Qantas CEO] Alan Joyce’s 15-year plan to systematically destroy good, secure aviation jobs. It brought the industry to rock bottom.
“To rebuild our essential aviation industry, workers, passengers and the community need a voice through an independent regulator,” Kaine said.
TWU national assistant secretary Nick McIntosh said on October 21 that the Federal Court had “sent a powerful message to corporate Australia”.
The TWU estimates Qantas will have to pay at least $100 million in compensation to the unlawfully sacked workers.