Airport workers across Australia to protest over Qantas ‘Joyce-era’ tactics
Airport workers are planning major protests across Australia over Qantas-led conditions they say are causing safety standards to drop.   :(


News.com.au
July 15, 2026

Aviation workers will protest at major airports across Australia on Thursday, calling for better safety standards and fairer conditions across the industry.

The Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) claims Qantas-led “Joyce-era” tactics have led to worker injuries and one fatality, as the airline outsourced supply chain work to dozens of external companies.

An aviation worker said his friend lost a finger to a tug’s tow hook, and another person damaged his feet when they were crushed under a cargo loader.   :o

The Transport Workers’ Union wants safer working conditions.

One company outsourced by the airline for ground handling work, Swissport, received about 400 safety reports in a month and was being investigated by safety regulators in Sydney and Brisbane, the union claimed.

The union also claimed Qantas Freight used about eight different companies to perform its work, and the splintering of operations led to “rock-bottom standards” and a labour hire worker’s death last year.

Another company paid its workers poverty-level wages, the union claimed.


The TWU said workers used to be employed by Qantas but were now scattered across 38 different subsidiaries and labour hire companies.

Airport workers are worried about job security.

A worker said they had tried to get a full-time job for 15 years, but it was no longer an industry that offered job security.

The union wants airlines and airports to fund fair standards and return good jobs to the sector, which they say deteriorated under Alan Joyce’s reign at Qantas.


TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said despite promises of change after the largest illegal outsourcing in Australia’s history, it was clear Qantas was still actively working to decimate standards in aviation.

“Right across the Qantas supply chain, workers are being injured and even killed just doing their jobs,” he said.

The union claims Qantas is dragging standards to ‘rock bottom’. 

“Their jobs are insecure and casualised, where they once used to be lifetime careers.

“Instead of investing in its workforce, Qantas is still doing its utmost to drag standards to rock bottom by shipping it out to companies like Swissport where we have seen horrific worker injuries.

“It’s time for Qantas, and airlines and airports right across Australia to fund decent jobs so we have an aviation industry that works for everyone – and for that we need a Safe and Secure Skies Commission.”

Flights are not expected to be disrupted during the protests planned at Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.

A Qantas spokesman said despite what the union claimed, there had not been an increase in safety incidents since ground handling moved to Swissport more than five years ago, and the number of recordable injuries has decreased.

A Qantas spokesperson said Swissport undertook ground handling work for a number of Australian and international airlines.

“We take the safety of our operations and people extremely seriously,” a spokesperson said.

“We have an established safety management system for managing all aspects of safety across the airline, which sees incidents investigated and, if required, changes implemented to prevent such incidents occurring in the future.


“Despite claims by the TWU, there has not been an increase in safety incidents since ground handling moved to Swissport more than five years ago, and the number of recordable injuries has decreased.