Workers, Union Line up for Share of $90 Million Qantas Fine

A photo taken on June 26, 2024, shows the vertical stabiliser of a Qantas Boeing 737-800 aircraft painted in heritage livery (background C) seen past other Qantas planes parked at a terminal at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport. William West/AFP via Getty Images

A fight to divide the spoils of a $90 million (US$58 million) fine could make former Qantas staffers $22,000 richer if the airline is not ordered to further fill union coffers.

Qantas outsourced 1,820 baggage handling, cleaning, and ground staff roles during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a move the Federal Court ruled was designed to curb union bargaining power in wage negotiations.