Qantas To Pay AU$170,000 To Unlawfully Sacked Workers, Faces AU$100 Million Claims

An Australian court has ordered Qantas Airlines to pay AU$170,000 in damages to three unlawfully sacked baggage handlers, as the company faces potential AU$100 million compensation claims from 1,700 similarly affected workers.

Federal Court Judge Michael Lee has ordered Qantas to pay three impacted workers AU$30,000, AU$40,000, and AU$100,000, respectively, for "non-economic loss." This ruling serves as a precursor to an imminent November arbitration, which will likely determine the final compensation bill for all affected staff, Forbes reported.

The sacking initiative was taken after Qantas decided to outsource its ground operations at 10 Australian airports -- a decision it claimed would save the airline about AU$100 million a year. However, the decision cost 1,700 staff their jobs and barred them from taking any industrial action.

A federal court convicted Qantas in 2020 of unlawfully contracting out jobs to lower-priced contractors. The Transport Workers Union started a compensation fight for the impacted former employees after the airline's appeals were denied.

In support of its decision, Qantas claimed that the workers would have lost their jobs regardless, since the airline would have had to restructure in 2021 due to the financial strains brought on by the pandemic. When negotiating non-economic loss compensation with the other fired employees, Qantas will refer to the initial settlements as a guide, SBS reported.

Qantas has apologized to its employees for the inconvenience. In a statement, the airline's chief executive officer, Vanessa Hudson, said, "We sincerely apologize to our former employees who were impacted by this decision, and we know that the onus is on Qantas to learn from this."

"We recognize the emotional and financial impact this has had on these people and their families. We hope that this provides closure to those who have been affected."

Nick McIntosh, national assistant secretary, referred to the AU$100,000 fines as "unprecedented" amid the Transport Workers' Union's celebration of the historic decision.

"This is about the 1,700 workers who did nothing wrong," McIntosh said. "Today is finally the day of justice after more than four years."