Invest
Federal Court case lodged to stop Qantas from outsourcing 2,000 jobs
Qantas is being dragged to court over its decision to outsource 2,000 jobs across 10 airports in Australia as part of a company-wide restructure.

Federal Court case lodged to stop Qantas from outsourcing 2,000 jobs
Qantas is being dragged to court over its decision to outsource 2,000 jobs across 10 airports in Australia as part of a company-wide restructure.

The union in charge of representing aviation workers has launched a test case in the Federal Court to challenge the “unlawful outsourcing” of more than 2,000 Qantas workers.
Maurice Blackburn Lawyers is expected to file the test case on behalf of the Transport Workers Union (TWU) on Wednesday morning, as it looks to overturn Qantas’ decision on the basis that it is “unlawful” under the Fair Work Act.
Maurice Blackburn principal Josh Bornstein, who is acting for the TWU, said the case would put outsourcing on trial.
“If Qantas can replace thousands of its employees with cheaper, insecure labour hire employees, then this can happen to any other employee in any Australian workplace.
“This important test case for the TWU will determine whether Qantas’ decision to sack 2,000 workers to outsource these jobs breaches workplace laws,” Mr Bornstein said.
He explained that the case is hinged on the Fair Work Act, which bluntly states that a company can’t sack employees because they are entitled to collectively bargained employment conditions.
“By outsourcing this work, Qantas is seeking to avoid collective bargaining under the Fair Work Act.
“If the outsourcing proceeds, Qantas will no longer have to negotiate with the workers who perform the work. Instead, Qantas will be able to unilaterally impose a price for the services of outsourced workers, and those outsourced workers will not be allowed to bargain with Qantas under current IR laws,” said Mr Bornstein.
Back in August, TWU hit out at Qantas for its response to the COVID crisis, which saw the airline announce that it was not only outsourcing thousands of ground, baggage and cleaning workers, but also making some 6,000 staff members redundant to reduce costs.
At the time, TWU sought the immediate resignation of CEO Alan Joyce.
“If Alan Joyce’s only plan is to wield the axe on thousands of loyal staff, he should resign. This is not shrewd management, it is economic violence. Qantas has taken millions in JobKeeper wage subsidies, more than any other company, with the express intent of keeping people employed. But now Alan Joyce wants to destroy thousands more livelihoods. This is callous abuse of public money. The chief executive must resign,” TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said at the time.

Investment insights
Retailers report strong HY21, with Super Retail set to refund JobKeeper
Certain Australian retailers are flourishing despite the government-mandated temporary store closures in 2020, with JB Hi-Fi reporting good sales growth and Super Retail Group pledging to hand back $1...Read more

Investment insights
Yes, working from home is risky. Here’s how to counter that
Before COVID, 26 million Americans worked from home part-time or full-time, and now that number has tripled. ...Read more

Investment insights
ESG is becoming popular but ‘greenwashing’ is a problem
Sustainable investing is back on the radar as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but experts warn that better standards around ESG products are needed to mitigate “greenwashing”. ...Read more

Investment insights
Where should you invest when interest rates are so low?
With the cash rate close to zero, this will have big implications for how you should invest your money to generate the best return. So, what are the options and which asset classes will best enable yo...Read more

Investment insights
Dividends in Australian shares – is the COVID lockdown lifting?
What happened during reporting season? Andrew Zenonos asks. ...Read more

Investment insights
How will falling Chinese foreign investment affect the Australian property market?
Foreign investment from China in Australian real estate has been quietly on the decline for several years. It peaked in 2015-16 at $31.9 billion and dropped significantly to $6.1 billion in 2018-19, ...Read more

Investment insights
What makes a dud investment a dud?
A wrong investment is only wrong to the wrong person, an investment director has flagged. ...Read more

Investment insights
3 ways to pandemic-proof a portfolio
There are a number of lessons high-net-worth investors can teach the rest of us about wealth preservation during a downturn, according to an investment specialist. ...Read more

Investment insights
Retailers report strong HY21, with Super Retail set to refund JobKeeper
Certain Australian retailers are flourishing despite the government-mandated temporary store closures in 2020, with JB Hi-Fi reporting good sales growth and Super Retail Group pledging to hand back $1...Read more

Investment insights
Yes, working from home is risky. Here’s how to counter that
Before COVID, 26 million Americans worked from home part-time or full-time, and now that number has tripled. ...Read more

Investment insights
ESG is becoming popular but ‘greenwashing’ is a problem
Sustainable investing is back on the radar as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but experts warn that better standards around ESG products are needed to mitigate “greenwashing”. ...Read more

Investment insights
Where should you invest when interest rates are so low?
With the cash rate close to zero, this will have big implications for how you should invest your money to generate the best return. So, what are the options and which asset classes will best enable yo...Read more

Investment insights
Dividends in Australian shares – is the COVID lockdown lifting?
What happened during reporting season? Andrew Zenonos asks. ...Read more

Investment insights
How will falling Chinese foreign investment affect the Australian property market?
Foreign investment from China in Australian real estate has been quietly on the decline for several years. It peaked in 2015-16 at $31.9 billion and dropped significantly to $6.1 billion in 2018-19, ...Read more

Investment insights
What makes a dud investment a dud?
A wrong investment is only wrong to the wrong person, an investment director has flagged. ...Read more

Investment insights
3 ways to pandemic-proof a portfolio
There are a number of lessons high-net-worth investors can teach the rest of us about wealth preservation during a downturn, according to an investment specialist. ...Read more