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News.com.au
24-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
‘Stronger than Sunrise': Qantas meeting comes under microscope
Australia's most iconic airline Qantas is set to pay millions in penalties after it unlawfully sacked more than 1800 ground staff. The airline was thrice found to have acted unlawfully when it fired 1820 staff in favour of outsourced contractors during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. While an earlier compensation hearing before Justice Michael Lee found Qantas should pay $120m to impacted workers, a further three-day hearing sought to decide the additional penalty Qantas must pay for the 2020 decision. The Federal Court earlier found that Qantas had acted against protections in the Fair Work Act in its outsourcing and was partly motivated by a desire to prevent industrial action. The airline appealed the decision to the full bench of the Federal Court and later the High Court, both of which were unsuccessful. After losing the appeal, the union and Qantas went to mediation to determine how much Qantas would have to pay the outsourced workers for economic losses linked to lost wages. The maximum penalty Qantas can be ordered to pay is $121m, on top of the compensation fund that is now in the process of being administered to workers. Day 1 – Qantas 'deeply sorry' On the first day of the hearing, Qantas people manager Catherine Walsh took the stand and issued an apology on the airline's behalf. 'I want to reinforce that we are deeply sorry, and we apologise for the impact on the workers, the TWU (Transport Workers Union), to the court for their time and to the family and friends that felt the impacts, we are deeply sorry,' she said. 'We hope we can get to the stage where there can be some finality for them in this.' Noel Hutley SC, for the union. said Ms Walsh joined the company in 2024 and was a 'central cog' in addressing issues with culture that brought about this 'catastrophe'. Yet, Mr Hutley put to Ms Walsh that she had not raised concerns with external advisers about since she joined the company. 'You never asked … why he behaved in an extraordinary fashion? It is extraordinary that nothing was said about a matter that was obviously an illicit reasoning for outsourcing,' Mr Hutley said. While Justice Lee said Ms Walsh was a 'candid' witness, he criticised the airline's decision to call a witness who was not employed by the company at the time of the breach of the Fair Work Act. 'One would have thought if you were truly contrite, you would put someone in the witness box who was there at the relevant time,' he said. 'Who could say I was part of the organisation when this decision was made, and I've changed my tune.' 'And I gave them every opportunity to call Ms Hudson (Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson) or somebody else in that situation and a deliberate forensic decision was made for her not to be called I would infer.' Mr Hutley said putting Ms Walsh on the stand had the look of choosing a person who 'could not be the subject of true investigation'. 'Ms Walsh had nothing to do with the events and … every time I cross-examined her about a particular event she said, 'well I wasn't there, I can't speak to that',' Mr Hutley said. Day 2 – 'A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' Mr Hutley called for Qantas to pay the maximum penalty given its decision was the 'largest ever instance of the contravention of the Fair Work Act'. He told the court that Qantas was faced with an 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' during the pandemic to save more than $100m per year. Mr Hutley said the airline had the 'temptation of the potential to produce a massive profit'. But Qantas barrister Justin Gleeson SC said any penalty close to the maximum would be 'manifestly unfair'. 'Qantas has accepted the seriousness of its conduct,' he said. 'The court can and should impose a significant deterrent penalty. However, it is in effect a first contravention (of the Fair Work Act).' Day 3 – 'Stronger than Sunrise' Meetings between Qantas senior managers, a group management committee (GMC) meeting and a board meeting came under the microscope in court on Wednesday. One of the meetings between Qantas executives and lawyers discussed the legality of outsourcing ground handlers, the court was told. It was said in the meeting that the proposal to outsource ground handlers was 'stronger than Sunrise' – a reference to the airline's ultra-long-haul Project Sunrise flights from Sydney to London and New York that are expected to begin in 2027. 'That appears to be some assessment as to whether the case for lawfulness is stronger than Project Sunrise,' Mr Gleeson said, referencing the meeting notes. The airline has since reached an agreement with its pilots and crew who will work the ultra-long-range flights of more than 20 hours. 'Appalling act' TWU secretary Michael Kaine said on Monday the airline's decision to get rid of a 'loyal workforce' was 'appalling' and the 'biggest case of illegal sackings in Australian corporate history'. 'The penalty to Qantas must reflect this and send a message to every other company in Australia that you cannot sack your workers to prevent them from using their industrial rights,' he said. Mr Kaine said ground handling work for Qantas was now being undertaken by companies such as Swissport, which he alleged had 'severe understaffing' and a 'revolving door of fed-up workers'. 'This cannot be a business case for outsourcing and Qantas should not only pay the maximum legal penalty for its actions but commit to funding fair standards throughout its supply chain,' he said. 'We need to see Qantas held accountable to the fullest extent here.' The hearing has now been adjourned, and Justice Lee has reserved his judgment. The penalty amount will be revealed at a later date. While Justice Lee is yet to decide exactly who will receive the money from the penalty imposed upon Qantas, there are three likely parties proposed. The TWU is seeking a large majority of the penalty and also argued affected workers should receive further compensation. Otherwise, the funds could go directly to the commonwealth.
Daily Mail
20-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Qantas lashed for 'hollow' apology after almost 2,000 workers were axed from the airline in biggest case of illegal sacking in Australia's history
An apology by Qantas for sacking 1,820 ground crew rings 'wholly hollow' and it has failed to make changes that ensure such actions never happen again, a judge has been told. In the Federal Court in Sydney on Tuesday, Justice Michael Lee continued hearing submissions on the penalty to be imposed on Qantas for the biggest case of illegal sackings in Australian history. Last October, Justice Lee ordered Qantas to pay $120million to the ground staff as compensation for their economic loss, pain and suffering since their jobs were outsourced during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Transport Workers Union is seeking that he impose the maximum penalty of $121million and order that the money be paid to the union. Noel Hutley SC, for the union, told Justice Lee that he should reject Qantas' submission that after four-and-a-half years of litigation, it was now contrite. 'Your Honour will not brush aside, as Qantas urges in its submissions, its vehement and regular denials of wrongdoing (and) its rejection of Your Honour's findings, which persisted all the way to the High Court,' he said. 'These reveal an attitude of adamantine self-righteousness.' Since the High Court ruled against Qantas' appeal no senior executive of the airline had publicly accepted it broke the law or Justice Lee's conclusions until Monday, Mr Hutley said. 'The contrition rings wholly hollow.' There had been 'a profound failure' within Qantas 'to come to terms with what needs to occur to avoid these things happening again', he said. The court should order that the penalty be paid to the TWU, which had taken on enormous risks and burdens to fight the sackings, Mr Hutley said. 'If the penalty is paid to my client, my client is an organisation charged with advancing the interests of its members... and the money would be applied to the proper purposes of the organisation.' On Monday, Qantas chief people officer Catherine Walsh told Justice Lee that 'hopefully you'll see from the size of the compensation payment that, in fact, we are very sorry'. 'We do wish for the workforce that was impacted to be properly remediated and the compensation that has been agreed could go some way to deal with that,' she said. Outside court, former Qantas worker Damien Pollard said union members were looking forward to the conclusion of the case 'to allow us to get on with our lives'. 'It's been a long fight, it's been very stressful for a lot of employees, so we are looking forward to the end,' he said.
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
High profile judge unleashes on Qantas as his verdict over the illegal sacking of hundreds of workers looms
The corporate world must be sent a message that it 'can't play the court for a fool', says a judge who will decide Qantas ' penalty for illegally sacking more than 1800 workers. Justice Michael Lee will set the penalty after three days of hearings that began on Monday in the Federal Court in Sydney. Last October, Justice Lee ordered Qantas to pay $120 million to the ground staff as compensation for their economic loss, pain and suffering since their jobs were outsourced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Transport Workers Union is seeking that he impose the maximum penalty of $121 million. Justice Lee said he was interested in hearing from both sides about specific and general deterrence, 'even if I was to accept there has been some 'road to Damascus'-type conversion' (within Qantas) since the start of 2024. '(But) the message must be sent to the broader corporate community that you can't play the court for a fool and try to fashion your evidence in a careful way in order to try to dissemble what went on,' he said. He asked Noel Hutley SC, for the TWU, if it would be his submission that the demands of general deterrence in this case are so strong 'that it would require the imposition of the maximum penalty'. Mr Hutley said it would not serve deterrence if large and sophisticated employers were able to conclude that 'if you're a little bit more careful' than Qantas its decision becomes a guide card to devastate large numbers of people'. Qantas made a 'ruthless calculation to prefer the expected commercial benefits of outsourcing over the interests of these loyal workers', he said. 'Qantas was prepared to sacrifice these individuals during what would have been an immensely difficult time for them during COVID,' Mr Hutley said. 'It was a callous decision.' Qantas had calculated the commercial benefit to be $100 million a year. Earlier, Qantas chief people officer Catherine Walsh told Justice Lee that 'hopefully you'll see from the size of the compensation payment that, in fact, we are very sorry'. 'We do wish for the workforce that was impacted to be properly remediated and the compensation that has been agreed could go some way to deal with that,' she said. The compensation payments will start flowing to workers by the end of May, with a base payment of $10,000 for all workers. Outside court, TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said Qantas had 'said sorry at two minutes to midnight'. 'They put it in an affidavit in these proceedings, because if you show contrition in penalty proceedings, the judge is bound to consider whether that should provide you with a discount on your penalty,' he said. He said the penalty should reflect the 'human suffering, the family dislocation, the financial stress, the mental anguish, the family breakdowns' directly resulting from Qantas' illegal conduct. Also outside court, former Qantas worker Tony Hayes said the saga was 'never ending'. 'It's been the same conversation for five years and we just want it to go away, but we want them to pay,' he said. Another former worker Anne Guirguis said she was with the company for 28 years and thought she would retire there. 'I've got colleagues that have lost houses and have been divorced, it's changed their world,' she said.
West Australian
19-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
'Sorry' Qantas could face $121m fine for sackings
Qantas should be forced to pay the maximum penalty of $121 million for illegally outsourcing the roles of 1800 ground workers, to send a strong message to all companies, a union says. Justice Michael Lee is set to decide the penalty Qantas must pay after three days of hearings that began on Monday in the Federal Court in Sydney. Outside court, Transport Workers Union national secretary Michael Kaine said the hearing was the beginning of the end of "a protracted, brutal, distressing set of litigation" that started in 2020 after Qantas sacked the workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Qantas appealed the case all the way to the High Court, which unanimously upheld the Federal Court's finding it had breached the Fair Work Act by outsourcing the workers, preventing them from accessing industrial rights to collectively bargain and take protected industrial action. Last October, Justice Lee ordered Qantas to pay $120 million to the workers as compensation for their economic loss, pain and suffering, and the TWU is seeking that he impose the maximum penalty of $121 million. "We have to send a very strong, clear signal to Qantas and every other company in Australia that this can never, ever happen again to any Australian worker," Mr Kaine said. In court, Qantas chief people officer Catherine Walsh told Justice Lee that "hopefully you'll see from the size of the compensation payment that, in fact, we are very sorry". "We do wish for the workforce that was impacted to be properly remediated and the compensation that has been agreed could go some way to deal with that," she said. The compensation payments will start flowing to workers by the end of May, with a base payment of $10,000 for all workers. Outside court, Mr Kaine said Qantas had "said sorry at two minutes to midnight". "They put it in an affidavit in these proceedings, because if you show contrition in penalty proceedings, the judge is bound to consider whether that should provide you with a discount on your penalty," he said. But he said the penalty should reflect the "human suffering, the family dislocation, the financial stress, the mental anguish, the family breakdowns" directly resulting from Qantas' illegal conduct. Also outside court, former Qantas worker Tony Hayes said the saga was "never ending". "It's been the same conversation for five years and we just want it to go away, but we want them to pay," he said. Another former worker Anne Guirguis said she was with the company for 28 years and thought she would retire there. "I've got colleagues that have lost houses and have been divorced, it's changed their world," she said. On Monday afternoon, Justice Lee is expected to start hearing closing submissions from lawyers for Qantas and the TWU.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'Sorry' Qantas could face $121m fine for sackings
Qantas should be forced to pay the maximum penalty of $121 million for illegally outsourcing the roles of 1800 ground workers, to send a strong message to all companies, a union says. Justice Michael Lee is set to decide the penalty Qantas must pay after three days of hearings that began on Monday in the Federal Court in Sydney. Outside court, Transport Workers Union national secretary Michael Kaine said the hearing was the beginning of the end of "a protracted, brutal, distressing set of litigation" that started in 2020 after Qantas sacked the workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Qantas appealed the case all the way to the High Court, which unanimously upheld the Federal Court's finding it had breached the Fair Work Act by outsourcing the workers, preventing them from accessing industrial rights to collectively bargain and take protected industrial action. Last October, Justice Lee ordered Qantas to pay $120 million to the workers as compensation for their economic loss, pain and suffering, and the TWU is seeking that he impose the maximum penalty of $121 million. "We have to send a very strong, clear signal to Qantas and every other company in Australia that this can never, ever happen again to any Australian worker," Mr Kaine said. In court, Qantas chief people officer Catherine Walsh told Justice Lee that "hopefully you'll see from the size of the compensation payment that, in fact, we are very sorry". "We do wish for the workforce that was impacted to be properly remediated and the compensation that has been agreed could go some way to deal with that," she said. The compensation payments will start flowing to workers by the end of May, with a base payment of $10,000 for all workers. Outside court, Mr Kaine said Qantas had "said sorry at two minutes to midnight". "They put it in an affidavit in these proceedings, because if you show contrition in penalty proceedings, the judge is bound to consider whether that should provide you with a discount on your penalty," he said. But he said the penalty should reflect the "human suffering, the family dislocation, the financial stress, the mental anguish, the family breakdowns" directly resulting from Qantas' illegal conduct. Also outside court, former Qantas worker Tony Hayes said the saga was "never ending". "It's been the same conversation for five years and we just want it to go away, but we want them to pay," he said. Another former worker Anne Guirguis said she was with the company for 28 years and thought she would retire there. "I've got colleagues that have lost houses and have been divorced, it's changed their world," she said. On Monday afternoon, Justice Lee is expected to start hearing closing submissions from lawyers for Qantas and the TWU.
