When we heard news of this victory in court today we were over the moon. Qantas defended this case with the most expensive QC in Australia over a 3 day trial. We estimate it has cost them 100k.
Our member Luke has put his life on hold, answered 5 hours of questions from the witness box and has never once had a second thought that he should reconsider and succumb to enormous pressure from management to drop the case.
Qantas and their manager have been caught with their pants down doing what I suspect takes place everyday. Threatening, bullying and harrassing staff who stand up for their rights. The win on the 343 coercion grounds is the first for any union in this country.
We have no doubt that Qantas will appeal the decision.