Airport ground handlers to strike next Monday with industrial action bringing travel chaos

International travellers using airlines including Qantas, Emirates, and Etihad face potential delays as baggage handlers agree to take strike action.

Some 350 ground handlers from Dnata, who are contracted to Qantas and more than a dozen other carriers, will walk off the job for 24 hours next Monday.

The industrial action will come after Qantas laid off thousands of employees to third-party companies last year.

Transport Workers Union assistant secretary Nick McIntosh said the shift had led to a decline in work conditions with staff unable to make a living on current wages.

Today Show host Karl Stefanovic became visibly upset with the strike set to cause more travel chaos for passengers who have already faced months of poor service with flights delayed or cancelled and baggage lost by airline staff.

Today Show host Karl Stefanovic became visibly upset with the strike set to cause more travel chaos for passengers who have already faced months of poor service with flights delayed or cancelled and baggage lost by airline staff

‘It’s got the point where we’ve had two years without travel, and now we’re travelling again. We just want it to stop,’ he said on Monday.

‘We don’t want there to be anymore delays.’

Mr McIntosh said he understood the strike would cause frustration among travellers, but Stefanovic remained unmoved by the sympathetic response.

‘Isn’t it on the workers now, though, who are there?’ Stefanovic said.

‘It’s happened, what happened with Qantas, you now have workers in there who are negotiating their own pay and moving forward.

‘When do you take responsibility for that?’

Mr McIntosh explained the industrial action was necessary despite the disruptions it would cause to travel.

‘This is a last resort,’ he said. ‘We are trying to resolve this, we are hopeful for resolution.

‘Four federal court judges found this was a deliberate strategy by Qantas to illegally outsrouce this work.

‘We’ve now got a situation where these workers can only get four hours a day, they’re on minimum rates and conditions. 

‘What else are they supposed to do when inflation is above six per cent?’

Transport Workers Union assistant secretary Nick McIntosh said the shift had led to a decline in work conditions with staff unable to make a living on current wages

The industrial action will come after Qantas laid off thousands of employees to third-party companies last year

Dnata, a ground crew and cargo company, is hoping to stave off next Monday’s strike when it appears before the Fair Work Commission on Tuesday.

The Transport Workers Union is calling for Dnata to lift pay and conditions, including minimum guaranteed work hours.

Qantas sacked its own ground crew staff during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and moved to outsourcing roles to companies such as Dnata.

An airline spokeswoman said the negotiations were a matter for Dnata and the carrier had contingency plans in place to curb disruptions.

The transport union’s national secretary Michael Kaine said ground handlers couldn’t afford to stay in the industry because of a drop in pay and conditions.

‘We need to rebalance aviation towards good, secure jobs that keep skilled workers in the industry and ensure the safety of the travelling public,’ Mr Kaine said.

He pinned the fall in conditions on outsourcing by Qantas and the lack of JobKeeper payments for Dnata workers under the former Morrison government.

The move is likely to cause travel chaos for the underfire airline which has faced a series of issues since the pandemic

Mr Kaine called on the new Albanese government to establish a regulatory body to set minimum standards across the industry.

A Dnata spokesman said the company had offered workers a ‘highly competitive’ pay offer but also needed to ensure its business was financially sustainable.

‘We are disappointed that we have been unable to reach an agreement with the bargaining representatives to date,’ he said.

Virgin Australia, Australia’s other major carrier, will not be impacted by the strike.

Qantas is challenging in the High Court a recent Federal Court decision declaring the airline’s outsourcing of ground crew workers to be illegal.

If it loses the appeal, Qantas could owe compensation to the nearly 1700 workers it sacked during the pandemic.

Dnata crews provide ground handling services to Qantas international flights in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, however the company does not service Qantas domestic flights.

The Qantas spokeswoman said Dnata provided services to more than 20 airlines across Australia and a strike would potentially have an impact across the sector.