October 22nd 2024.
This morning, a group of Qantas engineers who play a critical role in maintaining aircrafts have gone on a 24-hour strike, which could potentially cause flight delays or even cancellations. The strike is being led by engine components maintenance engineers at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport, who will be putting down their tools at 9 am. In Brisbane, heavy maintenance engineers will also be joining the strike at 1:30 am AEST.
This sudden strike comes after weeks of industrial action by the Qantas Engineers' Alliance. This alliance, made up of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, the Electrical Trades Union, and the Australian Workers Union, has been in a dispute with the company over pay. They are asking for a five percent increase in pay each year, with a 15 percent raise this year to make up for three and a half years of wage freezes.
According to AWU National Secretary Paul Farrow, the engineers have been understanding during tough times and accepted wage freezes. However, now that the company is seeing profits, it is only fair for Qantas to offer a decent pay raise. A large rally is planned at both Melbourne and Brisbane airports at 9 am to show solidarity and demand a fair offer from the company.
This is not the first time that engineers have gone on strike over the pay dispute. On September 30, more than 1000 engineers walked off the job in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and Canberra. These negotiations have been ongoing since April, and the engineers' current enterprise agreement expired in June.
Steve Murphy, the National Secretary for AMWU, expressed his frustration with Qantas' lack of attention to the ongoing issue. He believes that the company needs to value the workers who contribute to their safety record and make it their top priority. 9News.com.au has reached out to Qantas for a response on the matter.
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