Qantas ground handling staff vote overwhelmingly to authorise strike action

Regional Qantas ground handling staff employed through the airline's Qantas Ground Services subsidiary have voted overwhelmingly to authorise industrial action, with the Transport Workers Union reporting that 97% of the 350 workers who voted backed measures that could include work stoppages of between one and 24 hours. No strike date has been set, and Australian workplace rules require three days' notice before any action can begin. The vote follows a similar move earlier in August, when Qantas's long-haul pilots voted in favour of potential industrial action during their own pay dispute — that dispute has since been resolved with a wage deal, but the ground crew dispute remains unsettled. Workers are seeking job security, wage increases after what the union describes as years of frozen pay, and consolidation of ground staff under a single unified Qantas employment structure rather than fragmented subsidiary arrangements. TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said the workers "don't want to go on strike, but after being sold a false promise that this airline would finally treat them with respect, they've got no other choice." Qantas says it remains committed to further negotiations, including on pay and expanding full-time roles, and that it has contingency plans in place to limit disruption if action does go ahead. The next formal negotiating session between the airline and staff representatives is scheduled for September 18 through the Fair Work Commission.