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Illegally Sacked Qantas Workers To Receive Hefty Compensation

Three former Qantas workers will share $170,000 after the Federal Court ruled they were illegally fired during the Covid pandemic.

At court on Monday, three “test case” employees were awarded $30,000, $40,000 and $100,000 for economic loss; with the three payments setting the principles for further compensation to be paid.

Last year, it was found that Qantas illegally stood down 1,700 ground crew members in August 2020 and outsourced the roles to contractors at a cheaper rate.

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Each of the former employees will be compensated with one of the determined amounts based on their individual circumstances.

Qantas Group chief executive Vanessa Hudson apologised to the affected former employees.

“We sincerely apologise to our former employees who were impacted by this decision and we know that the onus is on Qantas to learn from this,” she said.

“We recognise the emotional and financial impact this has had on these people and their families. We hope that this provides closure to those who have been affected.”

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Qantas has requested assistance from the Transport Workers Union (TWU) to speed up the compensation process.

TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said they estimated Qantas could pay a total of $100 million in compensation.

“The TWU took on Australia’s biggest corporate bully at a time workers were told they were just a casualty of the pandemic. In reality, they were victims of a systematic attempt by Qantas to decimate the pay and conditions of its workforce,” he said.

“It’s astounding that Qantas attempted to argue it should not pay a dollar of compensation to workers it illegally sacked to prevent them accessing workplace rights.

“It was an added kick in the guts after the pain and suffering the airline has caused to these workers and their families.”

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