Qantas Industrial Dispute Analysis

This assignment requires a comprehensive analysis of the recurring industrial disputes faced by Qantas. Students are expected to delve into the underlying causes of these conflicts, considering factors like labor relations, union activities, and government regulations. A key focus is on examining the various legal frameworks and dispute resolution mechanisms employed in addressing these disputes, drawing upon case studies and scholarly articles provided.

Running head: AUSTRALIA INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Australian Industrial Relations
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Executive Summary
The aim of the paper is to analyze the dispute that took place between Qantas Airlines and
three Union parties in 2011 regarding working conditions. The dispute took place in the
company due to the sudden decision of the company to shift from Australia to Asia. Tho
resolve these disputes the Fair Work Commission intervened and ended the dispute by
accepting the demand by the pilots and aircraft engineers. The FWC committee also made
settlement in favor of the committee as well.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Background of the Dispute.........................................................................................................2
Claims made by the Unions and Qantas Airlines.......................................................................3
Parties that Intervened the Dispute............................................................................................4
Steps taken by the Parties under the Fair Work Act 2009.........................................................5
Solution to the Dispute...............................................................................................................6
Recommendations......................................................................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
References................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
The great dispute that took place between Qantas Airways and its three union parties
was visible in the aviation environment for a longer period causing various effects to the
parties as well as the company. Qantas has a very strong hold in its domestic airlines market
and it has been unstable in its position in the international market. This was due to the
continuous loss of market share that the company incurred in the international market. It was
seen in 2010 that that the share of the company in the international market fell drastically by
15 percent that is it fell from 34 percent to 19 percent compared to last year. This also led to a
decrease in the equity share of the company. Thus, due to these problems the company was
suggested to give up its international market. However, all these problems led to the dispute
in 2011 by the unions that raised issues for the long-term operations (The Conversation
2017). The paper discusses about the dispute that took place between Qantas and its three
union partners. Further, it discusses about the parties involved and intervened in the disputes.
The report also analyses the steps taken to resolve the dispute and the likely chances to
resolve the dispute if any.
Background of the Dispute
In October 2011, Qantas airways faced a huge dispute from its three unions named
Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association, The Transport Workers union and the
Australian and International Pilots Union. The dispute was raised by all the staffs of the
airlines together, which led to the lock out of the company. Just after the dispute started, it
was declared that the Qantas Airways would not depart any domestic o international flights
from that day. The flights that were already taken will be completed soon in the respected
sectors. The dispute was due to the actions taken by the employers in this ground, which was
soon put under the Fair Work Act (Heraldsun 2017). All the three unions has their own

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demand as reason for the dispute such as ALAEA demanded for at least one hour stoppage,
while TWU proposed work bans as well as stoppages and AIPA wanted a ban on compliance
with the in-flight announcement of the Qantas airways. The dispute was mainly due to the
slow bake put forward by the ALAEA and the TWU. This was due to continuous cancellation
of Qantas flights and cancellation of stoppages and halts in between the flights. This led to
huge loss of customers and reduction in revenue. In turn, the wages of the workers and
employees of the airways was hampered. Thus, the labor unions formed by the workers
demanded job security from the airline company Qantas. The dispute had a bad effect on
more than 70,000 domestic as well as international passengers due to sudden cancellation of
447 flights due to the lock out. The company witnessed more than 3000 employees getting
involved in the dispute demanding the lock out of Qantas Airways (NewsComAu 2017).
However, the company ensured the safe landing of the flights that already took off before the
dispute took place. The people involved in the dispute that carried out the bargaining
activities are engineers, baggage handlers and the pilots. These people carried out a number
of industrial action leading to the dispute. In continuation of this, the company decided to
terminate the staffs, which was prevented by the Fair Work Australia in the end of October
2011. The dispute led to 200 meetings including all the members in the union parties that
resulted in a great loss for the company. Thus, the dispute was huge and affected a lot of
employee, their lives, resources as well as the reputation of the company as a whole (Morton
2017).
Claims made by the Unions and Qantas Airlines
There were various claims made by the union parties as well as the Qantas in the time
of the dispute. These claims were made by them to meet their desired interest and problem
faced in the organization.

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The union consisting of pilots claimed that they do not want the company to move to Asia or
any other country and operate in Australia itself so that they are not deprived of jobs. They
put forward some claims related to payment and condition at work. They demanded same pay
structures for pilot flying in the domestic regions as for pilots flying abroad. Further, the
pilots demanded a 2.5 percent increase in their wage rate every year. In case of extra facility
they demanded two extra tickets for the staffs in a year for the economy class in the
international flights. Further, the unions also demanded that the company funds at least two
union members in a year by giving $1 million. The AIPA union is involved in the dispute put
forward by other unions is because the company wants the pilots to be in the Qantas flight
(pilots 2017).
Over the claims made by the pilots and unions, the Qantas Airways company also
justified their claims by stating that the pilots of Qantas company are the best paid pilots in
the world reviving 30 percent more salary than any other airlines. Thus, on this ground and
with some more justification the company rejected the claims made by the pilots (Gutierrez et
al. 2013).
Other than the pilots, the engineers and other staffs of the airlines also made claims or
their benefits. The initial claim made by them was the rise in the pay structure according to
the rising inflation and a proper job security. They want the engineers of the airlines to stick
to the maintenance regimes. However, Qantas did not accept their claim and said that the
engineers are sticking to the past (Claytonutz 2017).
Parties that Intervened the Dispute
Looking at the consequences of the dispute put forward by the workers of the
company forced Federal minister to intervene in the dispute to control the situation and to
reach to some solution. The Federal minister intervened in the dispute on October 2011 to

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take care of the dramatic circumstances. The Fair Work Act put the matter forward in front of
the Full Bench and discussion took place for more than 12 hours. Other parties that
intervened and played an active part in the resolving and analyzing the urgency of the dispute
are New South Wales, Queensland governments, Australian Council of Trade Unions. These
parties intervened in the dispute and joined the minister and the three unions to make
submissions about the dispute. The minister that intervened in the dispute bought various
evidences to prevent the lock out from Department of Infrastructure and Transport and
Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism. These departments was met by the minister
to establish a report stating the amount of loss the economy of Australia would suffer due to
the lockout of the company. The ministers further claimed for termination of the lockout and
issuance of ninety-day suspension to the company. The Queensland Government accepted
this claim. The FWA claimed that the demand of the three union parties are difficult to be
accepted and it is creating a lot of damage to the future of the company. The claims and
opinions of every member both in the union as well as in the parties differ from each other
according to their own interest and the interest of the society. The dispute has already led to a
lot of loss for the company as the passengers suffered and the flights were stopped from
flying. The customers lost trust in the company as many were asked to go back just after
boarding the flight while many got stuck in the flight that already boarded due to sudden
dispute by the workers and employees (ph.gov 2017).
Steps taken by the Parties under the Fair Work Act 2009
The decision was taken by the Fair Work Act of 2009 not to fully terminate and end
the dispute. It gave a temporary solution that would be value in the future. The FWA wanted
to give a proper justification for its findings to the parties and people involved in the dispute
rather than just publishing the order. It has been said by the Full Bench that the dispute has

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already caused a lot of damage and loss to the company in these days. Thus, a suspension of
the company for some period put in accordance with the unions’ protected actions will not be
succeeded (Fossum 2014). The Full Bench further was of the opinion that the bargaining has
always been visible in the industrial sector and there is no reason t stop the bargaining
activity as protected industrial action is allowed under the system. Thus, other than the
suspension there are other alternative solution to the claims and demand made by the union
parties. The Full bench realized the loss that the dispute caused to the Qantas Airways, its
customers, tourism business and the industry as a whole. Thus, according to them, just a
temporary solution is not enough and no party supported that. The principle issues put
forward by the unions were some difficult to resolve while other matters were possible to get
resolved. Thus, the FWA decided to take steps further that would be beneficial for the
company as well as for the unions (Spencer and Hardy 2014).
Solution to the Dispute
The bitter dispute that started between Qantas and the three unions ended with the
help of Fair Work Act that started in 2011. The commission was handling the last three
claims put forward by the international pilots that have to halt for longer time. Qantas and the
pilot union have provided the Fair Work Commission a document stating their decision
regarding each matter and also an approval or disapproval regarding few matters. These
documents were provided to the FWC until February 2013. Further, FWC witnessed that the
document that was put forward by the company in January 2013 was biased towards the
Qantas Airlines, which is a wrong case. In that particular document, the company cancelled
the job security claim made by the pilot association AIPA. Moreover, FWC also issued a
document on 2012 regarding the negotiation placed by Australian Licensed Aircraft
Engineers Association and Transport Workers Union.

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The dispute also came to an end with the company drawing peace line between them
and the aircraft engineers. FWC also intervened in this situation and supported the agreement
made for three years for the aircraft engineers, which will help them to retain the flexibility
and compete globally. According to the agreement the licensed engineer were entitled for a
three percent rise in their wage rate every year and consists some other facility related to long
hour works ad retirement benefits. The CEO of the company was also happy that the issues
with the aircraft engineers are resolved which led to the past disputes. However, along with
these solutions the dispute still exists from the ground workers and the pilots. The company
has initiated a restriction on the two unions from causing further industrial issues. These
solutions offered a sign of relief that there will be no further dispute from the engineers and
customers were certain to get good service from the company. It can be seen that the
decisions made by the FWC regarding the dispute did not have any power on the hands of the
unions to cause further problems in future. The decisions of the Fair Work Australia resulted
in a solution to the dispute caused in the Qantas Airlines of Australia. The company was now
expected to negotiate with the unions regarding their claims until 21 days until the final
decision is not reached. The company is expected to give a solution in favor of the employees
in order to prevent the loss that has already been caused because of the dispute. Government
was also of the notion that the dispute will come to an end after the worst system has been
formed. Thus, a solution to the dispute has helped the tourism industry of Australia to recover
the losses that it has incurred.
Recommendations
Such types of disputes in Australia between the Qantas and its pilots, engineers and
workers cause a lot of loss to the industry as well as to the economy. Such types of disputes
and rights given to the unions to commence such disputes will never help the company to

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grow on its own grounds. On the other side, the dispute is also beneficial for the workers to
get a suitable working environment for themselves. Even though Fair Work Commission has
helped the company to solve some of its disputes by fulfilling the demand made by the pilots
and the engineers, yet there are few other demands that are unmet and might lead to several
disputes in future (Howe 2017). The demand made by the workers was not met by the
company, which might discourage the ground staffs to perform for the company. These
ground staffs are as important for the airlines business as the pilots and the engineers of the
flight. Thus, Qantas should consider some of the demands made by these workers as well.
This will not only save them from further disputes, it will also help them get good ground
performance and better customer satisfaction, which it lost during the disputes. Further, the
union system in these companies should be banned or their power should be reduced for
some reason or the other. The union should be given the right to raise their issues in front of
the owners of the company; however, they should not have the right to shut down the
business of the company this is because such actions by the unions lead to huge losses for the
company and in turn affects the whole economy. These steps will help the company to
prevent such disputes from coming up in future and the business to lose their resources and
revenue (BC News 2017).
Conclusion
From the above analysis, it can be concluded that the dispute that was started in 2011
between Qantas Airlines and three Unions consisting of pilots, ground staffs and aircraft
engineers lead to damage of lot of resources, revenue, loss of customers and downfall of
tourism industry in Australia. The dispute was regarding the working condition, wage and
rights of the workers. Pilots on the other hand started the dispute to prevent Qantas Airways
to shut down its business sin Australia and move to Asia. However, the dispute led to a lot of

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problems and loss of revenue by the company. The passengers boarding the flights at the time
of the disputes got harassed a lot as they were asked to return back with their luggage.
However, after such chaos and issues, the dispute got resolved to some extent in some way or
the other by the intervention of Fair Worked Commission that negotiated the demands and set
one single document benefiting both the company and the union parties. However, the
demand of the ground staffs remained unaddressed by the Fair Work Commission, which
might lead to further problems. Thus, their demand should also be fulfilled to prevent future
disputes and further losses.

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References
BC News. 2017. Qantas to fly again after Fair Work terminates dispute. [online] Available
at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-31/qantas-action-terminated-fair-work-rules/
3609158 [Accessed 12 Oct. 2017].
Claytonutz.com. 2017. The Qantas dispute: employer's lockout, ministerial intervention and
Fair Work Australia's decision - Knowledge - Clayton Utz. [online] Available at:
https://www.claytonutz.com/knowledge/2012/may/the-qantas-dispute-employer-s-lockout-
ministerial-intervention-and-fair-work-australia-s-decision [Accessed 12 Oct. 2017].
Fossum, J.A., 2014. Labor relations. Mcgraw Hill Higher Educat.
Gutierrez, A.L.C., Panuwatwanich, K. and Walker, A., 2013. Learning from the past: analysis
of factors contributing to construction project disputes in Australia. Law and Dispute
Resolution.
Heraldsun.com.au. 2017. Pay agreement ends Qantas dispute. [online] Available at:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/pay-deal-ends-qantas-dispute/news-story/
76b9270cafd2b58a82789e92a81120d8?sv=33b8946d4fef491c2d9f900c988b13ac [Accessed
12 Oct. 2017].
Howe, A. 2017. Fair Work at work. [online] The Sydney Morning Herald. Available at:
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/fair-work-at-work-20111030-
1mqdj.html [Accessed 12 Oct. 2017].
Morton, R. 2017. Qantas, unions and industrial disputes. The cheat sheet you need.. [online]
Mamamia. Available at: http://www.mamamia.com.au/qantas-unions-and-industrial-disputes-
the-cheat-sheet-you-need/ [Accessed 12 Oct. 2017].

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NewsComAu. 2017. AIR WARS: Heroes, villains in the Qantas crisis. [online] Available at:
http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/qantas-crisis-who-won-and-whos-to-blame/
news-story/e9f50c9b21eaa19eb4a26fe98a1ea77f [Accessed 12 Oct. 2017].
ph.gov.au. 2017. The gods must be crazy: chronology of and issues in the Qantas industrial
dispute 2011 – Parliament of Australia. [online] Available at:
http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Librar
y/pubs/BN/2011-2012/ChronQantas [Accessed 12 Oct. 2017].
pilots, Q. 2017. Qantas wins "right to manage the airline" as FWA ends industrial dispute
with international pilots. [online] CAPA - Centre for Aviation. Available at:
https://centreforaviation.com/insights/analysis/qantas-wins-right-to-manage-the-airline-as-
fwa-ends-industrial-dispute-with-international-pilots-95113 [Accessed 12 Oct. 2017].
Spencer, D. and Hardy, S., 2014. Dispute Resolution in Australia: cases, commentary and
materials. Thomson Reuters.
The Conversation. 2017. How Qantas can take the heat out of its union disputes. [online]
Available at: https://theconversation.com/how-qantas-can-take-the-heat-out-of-its-union-
disputes-933 [Accessed 12 Oct. 2017].