It took more than a year of mediation between Qantas and the Transport Workers Union, but just before the end of 2024, the two parties reached an agreement over the payout of hundreds of outsourced workers during the pandemic.
A compensation amount of $120m for the 1,820 baggage handlers was agreed, who the initial 2021 Federal Court ruling had found were illegally outsourced.
Speaking to Neos Kosmos, Theo Seremetidis, one of the ex-employees affected by the airline’s decision, said the good news came “suddenly”.
“I heard it in the news, that’s how I found out.”
“Of course I feel vindicated. But it took a long time.
“Let’s just hope other companies will learn from this and won’t try what Qantas did.”
The initial ruling had found the outsourcing illegal, with the airline having acted against Fair Work protections and its decision partly driven by wanting to avoid industrial action.
“There was bound to be industrial action as our enterprise agreement had expired and we were in negotiations. The court was not persuaded by the [Qantas] allegations as it was proven they wanted to avoid a future strike,” Seremetidis said.
According to the former employee, this was a targeted attack on unionised members of the workforce.
“Those who replaced us in the job were getting lower wages and afforded lesser rights.
“All of us outsourced were union members. In effect, Qantas wanted to get rid of the union; a direct attack.”
The matter had been tied up in court for more than four years, with Qantas having appealed the initial decision twice unsuccessfully.
“Hearings for the first court lasted for about six weeks and I was there every single day. Not just me, many of us affected workers attended,” Seremetidis recalls.
Back then, he had a separate unresolved legal dispute with Qantas, over the airline’s decision to stand him down after he raised concerns about COVID-19 risks to staff cleaning planes arriving from China.
It was the onset of the pandemic in early 2020,when Seremetidis, a Health and Safety representative of a group of 180 workers, told fellow employees to cease cleaning planes arriving from virus hotspots, as they lacked adequate protective gear.
“People were coming to me saying they didn’t want to catch the virus and bring it home infecting loved ones. Especially some who had sick and elderly at home, those most at risk, they were really worried and hesitant to go on the planes arriving from hotspots,” he explained in a previous interview with Neos Kosmos.
A SafeWork inspection which followed had confirmed that Qantas workers were being handed only one rag and water to clean multiple tray tables on planes.
In the case that made history as a first-ever criminal prosecution against Qantas, the court had ruled that the airline’s decision to stand Seremetidis down had been illegal.
When NSW Safe Work announced it would take the case to court prosecuting Qantas, Seremetidis was already one of the 1,820 workers terminated by the airline at the end of 2020, as part of its decision to outsource work, also ruled by the High Court to be illegal.
Compensation hearings that concluded in October 2024, examined test cases of three outsourced workers to determine the range of the compensation amounts to be handed down by the airline.
Each of the 1,820 affected ex-employees will receive between $30,000 and $100,000 for lost wages and non-economic loss, according to their differing circumstances.
A compensation fund is set to be established for this in early 2025.
“My understanding is we’ll be called in for interviews with the legal firm administering payments,” Seremetidis, who just started a new job as a train driver, said.
Before that, he worked as a tram driver preceded by several casual jobs during the last four years since being sacked by the airline.
Other former colleagues, he said, were less fortunate in their job hunting.
“Many of my fellow workers couldn’t find work for a while after being outsourced by Qantas, and some still haven’t.
“I feel lighter now that all has come to an end. It’s like a weight has been lifted off our shoulders you know, we found closure to move on in our lives.”
