Qantas apologises for impact of outsourcing decision after court loss
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More news: Qantas has publicly apologised for the impact of its decision to outsource ground workers during the pandemic, which was upheld as illegal by the High Court this morning. Qantas said its decision was made in the height of pandemic lockdowns and border closures, and was made "to improve its ability to survive and ultimately recover."
What they said: "As we have said from the beginning, we deeply regret the personal impact the outsourcing decision had on all those affected and we sincerely apologise for that," a Qantas spokesperson said in a statement.
High Court finds Qantas outsourcing was unlawful
The news: The High Court has found Qantas' decision to outsource workers during the COVID-19 pandemic was illegal, dealing a fresh blow to the under-fire airline.
The numbers: The court dismissed Qantas’ appeal against earlier judgments that the sacking of 1,683 ground staff was in breach of the Fair Work Act. The airline, which retrenched workers in 2020, lost billions of dollars due to the pandemic.
The context: The High Court judgement handed down on Wednesday upheld two rulings made by the Federal Court, which found the airline’s outsourcing of baggage handlers, cleaners and ground staff was unlawful. The Federal Court had found Qantas to have breached the Fair Work Act in outsourcing its ground operations to avoid enterprise bargaining rights, after the Transport Workers' Union took legal action against the carrier.
The source: AAP
