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Record fine for Qantas over COVID sackings

An Australian court has imposed a fine of AU$90 million on the airline Qantas for sacking 1,800 workers during the COVID pandemic. 

The Federal Court had already found that the airline’s decision to outsource its ground-handling operations breached Australian industrial-relations law. 

The fine is the largest imposed on an Australian company under the Fair Work Act 2009, with AU$50 million of the total to be paid to the workers’ union, the Transport Workers’ Union of Australia. 

‘Five-year battle’ 

Judge Michael Lee said that the fine would act as a deterrent, adding that “it will send a message to Qantas and other well-resourced employers”. 

The airline said in a statement that it had agreed to pay the fine and that the ruling held it accountable for actions that caused "real harm" to its employees. 

The decision marked the "end of a David and Goliath five-year battle" and was a "moment of justice for loyal workers who'd loved their jobs at the airline," the transport union said.