The potentially damaging labour dispute in Brisbane Airport has been solved after Qantas demanded a contractor, BCS Infrastructure Support, to sort out the problem. Latest report said BCS offered electricians, baggage support staff and mechanical fitters belonging to the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) higher pay.

A strike has hit a Qantas contractor at the Brisbane Airport on Sunday evening which led the contractor to lockout 26 maintenance workers after the workers struck over a wage dispute.

Union members are protesting pay inequality. They complained that they are paid up to 25 per cent less than their counterparts in Victoria.

"These guys do essential work, yet they are paid substandard wages and have to endure an anti-union culture at the workplace.... BCS seem to think they can ignore Fair Work orders at will," ETU organiser Garry Rogers said in a statement.

Mr Rogers said BCS offered the lowest paid employees a $5,300 pay increase spread over two years while the highest paid workers would get a $14,000 salary hike over the same period.

He said the ETU initially planned to meet with members on Tuesday to discuss their plan of action. Mr Rogers added that the lock out and the expected strike action would have cause disruption in check-in and retrieval services at the Brisbane Airport domestic terminal. He had warned airport passengers to expect delays.

He added ETU sought to talk with the Qantas contractor but earlier failed due to time difference. BCS is based in New Zealand.

Qantas said the industrial action did not affect its domestic flights from Brisbane. The air carrier stressed that the striking workers are not Qantas employees and the problem is a BCS matter. Qantas said the contractor has placed contingency measures in place and assured the airline that the industrial row would not affect its operations.

Qantas itself is having its own industrial problems with unions under arbitration by Fair Work Australia. Last week, Qantas announced that its talk with Malaysia Airlines to establish a premium carrier with base in Kuala Lumpur has bogged down, but it will still pursue the idea of a premium carrier which the Qantas unions oppose due to its threat to offshore jobs to Asia.