Originally Posted by
AEROMEDIC
Well, the TWU won the case against Qantas. So what next? Will anything be changed?
Both parties have to sit down and discuss where to go from here, but I don’t think it will be a reversal of terminations, re-employment, compensation or any other reversionary action. So, it will be interesting as Qantas will be very angry that they have not shown that they were right to act the way they did.
Breaching the Fair Work Australia Act carries penalties.
I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for negotiations to start. Qantas will appeal this one all the way up to the Full Bench of the High Court if they have to, as this is their one shot to get out of the groundhanding business altogether. This decision doesn't appear to be a full victory for the TWU, so it is likely that Qantas will grourp and mount some better arguments about how dire the industry is and why the airline can justify outsourcing it, or at least find a way to get around the technicalities raised in this judgement. They will argue that it has wider ramifications on how a business can respond during an unprecedented crisis. Given the lockdowns continue to throw schedules and ops into a state of flux, it is helping to make the case for why it is better to pay a contractor than it is having lots of employees hanging around.