Travellers warned of disruptions at Australian airports during ground worker strike, BA

International travellers have been warned to expect disruptions at Australia’s major airports as ground workers strike. According to Australia’s 9News network, more than 1,000 ground workers employed by aviation services company Dnata at Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane airports on Friday staged four-hour work stoppages amid an ongoing pay dispute.

Qantas, Australia’s flag carrier, has said its domestic services will not be affected but that it has put contingencies in place for international flights from Sydney. Up to 20 major international carriers contract Dnata for ground handling for international operations in Australia.

Michael Kaine, National Secretary of the Transport Workers Union, said that the industrial action was a last resort after over one year of negotiations on the pay deal, Xinhua news agency reported.

“There will be disruptions today. That’s the nature of industrial action. There’ll be disruptions at Sydney Airport, at Melbourne Airport, at Brisbane Airport, and there’ll be flight delays,” he told 9News network.

Sydney Airport said it was ready to support airlines to mitigate the impact of the strike on their operations and encouraged travelers to stay alert for messages from their airlines. Last month, Australia’s flag airline Qantas had agreed to pay compensation to over 1800 workers who were illegally dismissed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The carrier announced on December 18 that it has reached an agreement with the Transport Workers Union (TWU) to pay the former ground handlers a combined 120 million Australian dollars (76 million US dollars).

Under the agreement, Qantas and the union will set up a compensation fund in early 2025 to send payments to the 1820 former employees whose roles were illegally outsourced in 2020. The union had launched legal action in the Federal Court on behalf of the 1820 workers in 2020 after their roles were outsourced in August of that year amid border closures and lockdowns.