Qantas engineers warn of travel delays as they walk off the job across the country

Qantas engineers are warning of the chance of flight delays at airports around the country as they launch further strike action as part of an ongoing pay dispute.

Engineers at Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth airports began walking off the job for two hours from 7am as part of the industrial action pushing for a major pay increase.

The Qantas Engineers’ Alliance, which consists of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), Australian Workers Union (AWU) and Electrical Trades Union (ETU) is pushing for a 15 per cent up-front pay rise with another 5 per cent increase over the next three years. 

The engineers in charge of marshalling aircraft and checking planes in between flights are downing tools in rolling stoppages across the country, saying wages have been frozen for years.

“It’s about time that Qantas showed these workers that they are valued, they are respected,” AMWU national secretary Steve Murphy said.

“Pay the workers back for their goodwill and their good faith during COVID when we were looking after the general public’s safety and making sure that the planes were always ready to go.”

AWU national secretary Paul Farrow said the engineers played an integral role in maintaining Qantas’s reliable safety record. 

He called on Qantas to bring a good offer to the negotiating table or face further strike action.

“I think it’s been nearly 20 years since our members have engaged in this type of action and what have they got for it?” Mr Farrow asked.

“One-point-two per cent per annum for the last 10 years while cost of living has gone up by 23 per cent.

“What Qantas has taught (the engineers) is ‘if you stay quiet, if you work with us, what you’ll get in return is absolutely nothing’.”

ETU national secretary Michael Wright said the engineers did not deliberately target the AFL and NFL grand final weekends to take strike action.

“It’s an unfortunate consequence and we’re doing everything we can to limit the impact on people’s holidays,” he said.

“But it remains the case that after 10 years of real wage cuts, the ball is in Qantas’s court for how it is they’re going to come forward and make good after the hard work that has kept the company aloft after all these years”

Engineers in Melbourne held a strike on Thursday which did not result in any serious delays.

Qantas said it had contingencies in place to minimise any delays for travellers.

“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 work groups,” 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.”