Qantas engineers to strike, union says 'highly likely' flights will be impacted

Hundreds of Qantas engineers across Australia are set to stop work over pay and conditions as part of major strike action scheduled to take place over the next two weeks.

The Qantas Engineers’ Alliance said the strike “is highly likely” to affect flights in all major capitals, however a Qantas spokesperson said the airline would put contingency plans in place.

“We don’t currently expect this industrial action to have an impact on customers,” the Qantas spokesperson said.

“We’ve held a series of meetings with the unions and made progress on a number of items.

“We want to reach an agreement that includes pay rises and lifestyle benefits for our people.”

Up to 1100 staff will be involved in the action from three unions including the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU), the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) and Electrical Trades Union (ETU).

In their fight for increased wages, the alliance is calling for 5 per cent per year and a 15 per cent first year payment to make up for three-and-a-half years of wage freezes.

“Our highly skilled members deserve fair wages for the incredible work they do to keep us all safe in the air,” AMWU national secretary Steve Murphy said.

“As a former aircraft engineer I know they never take industrial action lightly. On this occasion their hand has been forced because Qantas management is refusing to countenance a fair deal,” AWU national secretary Paul Farrow said.

“We know Qantas has been struggling to attract new skilled engineers who are flocking to other employers,” ATU national secretary Paul Farrow said.

The strike action comes ahead of the AFL grand final this weekend.