Qantas members have worked tirelessly to bargain for better conditions and ramp up the pressure on their employer to come to the table with a fair deal. After weeks of workplace discussions, member surveys, and threatening industrial action, Qantas has finally come forward with an offer worth considering.

Qantas has been married to a wages policy of only granting 3% increases each year. Thanks to the efforts of USU members, Qantas has improved this offer to a pay adjustment for levels 1-4, and an increase of at least 5% for all levels and classifications. This is a huge win considering Qantas previously being adamant that they could only offer a pay adjustment to levels 1-4 and only a 3% increase on all other levels.

Qantas has also made massive concessions, including conditions for which they have previously won their agreement interpretation in the Fair Work Commission. This includes, but is not limited to:

  • For levels 3 and 4 staff at airports, a new 15% loading for any part-time extension hours worked on a day shift
  • Nil-48 Win! To help avoid Qantas’s practice of getting staff to “agree” to change their shift at nil-48, a new time-and-a-half payment will apply when a shift change is made by agreement, provided Qantas will continue to pay double time when a shift is changed that is required (i.e. forced), and where there is a practice that the payment is paid at 200%, there is no intention to change this practice.
  • Qantas has dropped the harsh conditions they wanted to introduce to facilitate a roster-preferencing system, including split shifts via shift gifting – which would have allowed employees to work two shifts in a day at single-time rates, and 10-hour shifts for individual part-timers – which risked undermining full-time roles and reducing overtime opportunities.

When it comes to airlines, Qantas has the lion’s share of the Australian aviation market, so they set the bar for all the other airlines when it comes to what they offer for pay rises and other improvements in their rounds of bargaining. That’s why we’re celebrating these wins not just for our Qantas members, but all members in airlines – because it’s a sign of better things to come for our current round of Rex bargaining, and our Qantaslink Group 1, Jetstar and Virgin agreements coming soon!

We’re stronger when we fight together, so if you have a colleague who is considering joining the USU – tell them now is the time to get on board! We’re looking forward to better things to come.