Qantas employees agree to 18 months of pay freeze for bigger bonuses & leave provisions

In 2014, Qantas was suffering from labor problems as jobs and benefits were cut, leading to worker walk-offs. On Friday, Qantas announced the air carrier and Australian Services Union reached a new enterprise agreement which affects the salary and working conditions of 4,650 Qantas employees across Australia.

The four-year deal provides for an 18-month wage freeze beginning July 2016 until January 2018. In exchange, workers will get pay hikes totaling 7.5 percent between the middle of 2018 and mid-2020, Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Qantas would also offer a one-off bonus equal to 5 percent of each worker’s yearly salary and another “record result” bonus of $300. There would also be a new set of superannuation and leave provisions which would benefit employees, majority of whom are women.

Among these are a domestic violence leave and family-friendly provisions to help address retirement income inequality. The company would grant primary carers 12 weeks of paid parental leave and two week of salary to be paid into superannuation, according to the Australian Services Union.

These benefits made 93 percent of the Qantas workers – made up of head office staff, call centre, airport, catering, freight and engineering employees – accept the agreement.

A Qantas spokeswoman said, “We’re glad that we’ve reached an agreement that rewards employees while also ensuring the long-term competitive strength of the business.”

Meanwhile, with the air carrier’s expansion as the Boeing Dreamliner jets are added to its fleet, Qantas held earlier a recruitment drive to fill in 170 pilot positions. The drive attracted over 500 applications from Australia and overseas, The Australian reports.

The applicants varied, ranging from those who had flown Boeing and Airbus aircraft to prop pilots who want to progress to flying jets.