Qantas Engineers Plan Nationwide Strike Over Wages

Over 1,000 Qantas engineers are set to strike over wage disputes, affecting peak-hour flights from 7am to 9am in major Australian cities including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and Canberra. The engineers, represented by the Qantas Engineers' Alliance, are demanding a 15% first-year payment and a 5% annual wage increase to compensate for three and a half years of wage freezes. Negotiations with Qantas management have been ongoing since April, but broke down when the enterprise agreement expired in June. Despite the strike, Qantas insists it has contingencies in place and does not expect significant disruptions to travel. The engineers emphasize their essential role during the pandemic and argue that Qantas's failure to meet their demands has severely affected morale.