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Australia’s largest airline has been ordered to pay a landmark penalty of $90 million for what has been dubbed the largest case of illegal sackings in the country’s history.
Qantas outsourced more than 1,800 baggage handlers, cleaners and ground staff in 2020, in a move the Federal Court ruled was designed to curb union bargaining power in wage negotiations.
The embattled airline’s appeal to the High Court was unsuccessful, paving the way for the penalty to be awarded on Monday.
The Federal Court judge cited the “sheer scale of the contraventions, being the largest of their type” as a reason to impose a penalty that would deter other businesses from similar conduct.
He ordered Qantas to pay $90 million in penalties, $50 million of which is to be paid directly to the union that brought the proceedings and highlighted the illegal conduct.
“To deprive someone of work illegally is to deprive someone of an aspect of their human dignity, and this is not assuaged simply by expressions of regret,” Lee said.
He noted Qantas had apologised publicly but then had attempted to deny any compensation payments to the affected workers.
Lawyer Josh Bornstein, representing the TWU, said the penalty made industrial relations history.
“This is the largest penalty handed down for a breach of industrial relations laws in 120 years. It is also perhaps the darkest day in Qantas’ 105-year history,” he told reporters outside court.
“It has been five long years. Today is a victory, not just for our colleagues but for all Australian workers,” said Anne Guirguis, who worked at Qantas for 27 years cleaning aircraft before being laid off.
“We can close this chapter and move on now,” Guirguis told reporters outside court.
TWU national secretary Michael Kaine described the decision as a “final win” for the Qantas workers.
“Qantas was not sorry to workers when it illegally outsourced these workers, many finding out they’d lost their jobs over a loudspeaker in the lunch room,” Kaine said.
“Qantas is only sorry now that it has to pay the largest penalty fine of any employer in Australian corporate history.”
Qantas will have to pay the hefty bill on top of a $120 million compensation payment it has made to the affected ground staff for their economic loss, pain and suffering following the outsourcing.
However, Lee said he didn’t have enough evidence to be convinced those payments would be made.
The court was told the scandal-plagued airline began to finally accept responsibility for its actions in 2023, Lee noted, which coincided with the departure of former CEO Alan Joyce.
The courtroom was packed with union members and representatives, who hugged and exchanged smiles after Justice Lee handed down his decision.
It comes after Qantas also sold tickets to cancelled flights for several years, triggering more legal turmoil and a $100 million fine after it was sued by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
