Qantas workers win outsourcing case at High Court

The High Court has unanimously dismissed Qantas’ appeal on illegally sacking 1700 workers.

The High Court has agreed with two previous Federal Court verdicts: Qantas broke the law by outsourcing ground handling and fleet presentation jobs. That means Qantas is officially responsible for the largest case of illegal sackings in Australian history. 

Congratulations, this is a huge win for Qantas workers but also for workers across Australia.

“Now everybody knows how Qantas treats its workers. Today is vindication for what we’ve been fighting for over the last 3 years.” – Damien Pollard, illegally outsourced Qantas worker.

Without the relentless actions of thousands of members over the past three years, this win would not have been possible. This victory was achieved because Qantas workers stood together: taking part in actions, lobbying politicians, talking to media, attending hearings, and supporting each other every day since the announcement to outsource was made. 

Download a timeline of our campaign

What happens now?

• This is the end of the road for Qantas. We have now returned to the Federal Court to determine compensation and penalties. This process will take some time considering the extent of the case.
• The TWU has also called on new CEO Vanessa Hudson to commit to a speedy and non-adversarial approach to compensation and penalties.

We must continue to stand together as the appalling management of Qantas is still impacting our community:

• Theo Seremetidis, one of the illegally sacked workers, awaits the decision on a landmark prosecution against Qantas for standing him down during the pandemic for doing his job as a health and Safety rep. Let’s show him our support!
• Our campaign is an example of why we need to change the laws to prevent something like this from happening again. We must push the Federal Parliament to urgently pass the Closing the Loopholes Bill, and the Federal Government to establish a Safe and Secure Skies Commission to ensure aviation decisions are made in the interests of workers, customers and the public.

Check out the huge impact of our historical win in the media: