Qantas board must be spilled' after High Court upheld illegal sacking ruling, union says   :)

September 13 2023
ABC News

The Transport Workers Union has just issued a statement in response to the breaking news that Qantas acted illegally in sacking 1,700 workers during the COVID pandemic.

The TWU says the verdict is proof that the "Qantas board must be spilled".

Here's the full statement from the union:

"Richard Goyder and the entire Qantas board must be replaced by new directors including a worker representative, after the High Court today unanimously upheld two Federal Court verdicts that Qantas illegally outsourced 1,700 workers," the TWU said.

"The TWU has also called on new CEO Vanessa Hudson to publicly apologise to illegally sacked workers and commit to a speedy and non-adversarial approach to Federal Court hearings on compensation and penalties.

"Three unanimous rulings from the Federal Court and High Court found Qantas breached the Fair Work Act. Outsourcing workers prevented them accessing industrial rights to collectively bargain and take protected industrial action.

"Qantas previously convinced the Federal Court not to reinstate the workers saying that if it did, Qantas management would sack them all over again."



KEY EVENT
BREAKING: Qantas loses High Court appeal over illegal sacking of workers during COVID   

September 13 2923
ABC News

Qantas has lost its High Court appeal over the sacking of 1,700 workers during the pandemic.   :)

The jobs of baggage handlers and cleaners at 10 airports were outsourced, as the airline faced a dramatic decline in business.

Qantas maintained it made the decision for sound commercial reasons.

But the Transport Workers Union told the High Court the airline had also been motivated to head off industrial action when things returned to normal, in breach of the Fair Work Act.

Today the High Court unanimously dismissed the appeal by Qantas.

He got out at the right time, didn't he?   ::)

And with his bonus intact.  >:(

Union seeks compensation for sacked workers after Qantas ruling



September 12 2023
The New Daily

The union representing illegally sacked Qantas workers will return to court in coming days to seek compensation and a hefty penalty against the embattled airline.   :)

The High Court ruled on Wednesday that Qantas’ decision to outsource 1700 jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic was illegal.

The unanimous judgment dismissed Qantas’ appeal against two previous rulings in the Federal Court, which found the outsourcing of baggage handlers, cleaners and ground staff was unlawful.

Outside court, Transport Workers Union national secretary Michael Kaine said the sackings were the largest unlawful terminations in Australian corporate history.

Kaine said the union would return to court within days to pursue compensation and financial punishment of Qantas.

“They’re entitled to still be in their positions and therefore they need to be compensated for that,” he told reporters.

“We will seek penalties as well.

“It is important that there is a clear signal sent to employers in the future that this type of conduct should not occur.”

Kaine also called for departed Qantas chief Alan Joyce to be stripped of his “obscene” multimillions in bonuses.

Federal MP Bob Katter said he would push for an inquiry into the conduct of the Qantas board, which he described as the “slithering Sydney suits”.

“Now I want an inquiry into that board. I want a lot more than a sacking of that board,” Mr Katter said.

Retired Labor senator and ex-union boss Doug Cameron said Qantas was “done like a dinner”, and it was time for the board to go.

“The only regrets this board has is that it has now been found to have illegally sacked 1700 workers and is up for huge compensation claims from workers whose lives were devastated,” he tweeted.

“The Qantas board must go!”


Qantas had sought to overturn rulings that it breached the Fair Work Act in outsourcing its ground operations to avoid enterprise bargaining rights, after the TWU took legal action against the carrier.

Sacked workers inside the courtroom pumped their fists in victory upon hearing the decision.

Damien Pollard, a sacked worker who had been with Qantas for decades, spoke of the emotional and financial toll.

“The last three years have been horrendous for my colleagues and myself,” he said with tears welling in his eyes.

“This is redemption for us today.”

The airline, which retrenched workers in 2020, lost billions of dollars during the pandemic, which decimated the aviation sector.

Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus, who attended the judgment, urged parliamentarians to pass Labor’s “closing the loopholes” industrial relations legislation. She said it would stop such behaviour at its “source”.

Qantas said the decision to outsource the remainder of the airline’s ground-handling work was made in August 2020, when “borders were closed, lockdowns were in place and no COVID vaccine existed”.

“The likelihood of a years’ long crisis led Qantas to restructure its business to improve its ability to survive and ultimately recover,” it said in a statement.

“As we have said from the beginning, we deeply regret the personal impact the outsourcing decision had on all those affected and we sincerely apologise for that.

“A prior decision by the Federal Court has ruled out reinstatement of workers but it will now consider penalties for the breach and compensation for relevant employees, which will factor in redundancy payments already made by Qantas.”

The airline posted an underlying profit of almost $2.5 billion for the past financial year.

Now to get that $24m back from that Irish proof reader....  YTF would anyone receive a bonus - especially like that - for this kind of debacle?

No wonder he got out of Dodge.... issue a warrant for his arrest...

Again - nice to see my views on that little bastard ruining countless lives, livelihoods, families and retirement plans being brought to task - if not justice...

Now for the Voice and starting to roll back the abuses of the pasty forty years...

Where's dividie to preach at me how I'm tied to his nonsensical competition society?  Never known that little intellectual prick to miss a chance, either..... or a point ...... or a reality ............

greggerypeccary wrote on Sep 13^th, 2023 at 10:32am:

He got out at the right time, didn't he?   ::)

Yeah, like a rat deserting a sinking ship.

All those experienced baggage handlers working loyally many years, including being away from family celebration days like Christmas etc.
To be replaced with newbies on cheaper pay that created a lot of misplaced luggage for passengers.

I’m happy for the historical court win for the ones that were sacked.
The court rejected an appeal by Qantas.

greggerypeccary wrote on Sep 13^th, 2023 at 10:32am:

He got out at the right time, didn't he?   ::)

It was not likely an accident Joyce was running for the hills with the benny hill music playing in the background.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNBL5OMeuno

.. and the hits just keep on coming ............ this one's got to go to the Federal Integrity Commission..... this is what Australia has come to in the hands of the greedy ...

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/key-qantas-regulators-unveiled-as-members-of-airline-s-executive-chairman-s-lounge/ar-AA1gGBTw?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=b692c1f48a5e4aaecf88fac8f326c3f4&ei=16

"Australia's top watchdogs regulating Qantas have been revealed to be members of the embattled airline's exclusive Executive Chairman's Lounge.

Five of the seven commissioners of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) are members of the invite-only Chairman's Lounge, the regulator said in a statement.

This includes ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb and corporate watchdog Joseph Longo.

The ACCC launched action in the Federal Court alleging Qantas had engaged in false, misleading or deceptive conduct by selling tickets for more than 8,000 cancelled flights between May and July last year.

The regulator, who launched the action last month, is seeking to penalise the airline by more than $250million."

https://media.tenor.com/xg7eXmwKZ9wAAAAM/laughing-hysterically.gif