Note: This story has been updated to include a response from Qantas
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Tamworth aircraft maintenance workers say they may take "more visible" industrial action against QantasLink if the company does not increase wages, refusing an offer for up to $7000 in one-off bonuses.
The Qantas Group employees have been negotiating with the company since September 2022, seeking a better deal for people they claim are the "lowest paid" maintenance workers in the industry.
"Currently the highest rate of pay rate aircraft maintenance engineers can achieve at the Tamworth facility is $29.38 [per hour]. In comparison to other places with data readily available from enterprise agreements on the Fair Work Commission website, the average across those agreements is in the vicinity of $40 per hour," Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union organiser Tim Ferguson said.
Mr Ferguson, who himself is a former aircraft maintenance engineer from Newcastle, said workers in Tamworth were "effectively being discriminated since they live in a regional area," and the union demands a $10-per-hour pay rise.
The local aviation maintenance industry has been referred to as Tamworth's hidden gem, with the QantasLink maintenance hangar at Tamworth airport getting two major expansions over the last 10 years.
![The QantasLink maintenance hangar at Tamworth Regional Airport. Picture by Gareth Gardner The QantasLink maintenance hangar at Tamworth Regional Airport. Picture by Gareth Gardner](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/200003594/9ed2016d-1094-4ee1-b3b5-e81743e37016.jpg/r0_0_7409_5114_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"It is worth noting that in other Qantas Group airlines which also have enterprise agreements for an equivalent qualified person, you can get anywhere up to $47 for being a highly-skilled aircraft maintenance engineer," Mr Ferguson said.
He said Tamworth union members had already conducted a 24-hour work stoppage, but it had not been enough to get Qantas to budge, so members are now considering more drastic measures.
"There's discussion among employees about taking further action, action that's more visible than it has been to date," Mr Ferguson said.
The union organiser did not specify what actions might be employed, but mentioned they would be protected industrial action that involves "being visible with flags," and that it would not affect passenger safety.
Qantas, on the other hand, says its existing offer to the 15 aircraft maintenance engineers and trade assistants it employs in Tamworth has been more than reasonable.
"We have offered our aircraft maintenance engineers in Tamworth significant pay increases. These pay increases are consistent with what the AMWU has accepted with other QantasLink engineers," a Qantas spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also said if employees accept the proposed agreement, they will also receive a "recovery boost" payment of $5,000 and a record results payment from 2018 of up to $2,000, so long as they meet eligibility requirements.
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Qantas Group's current wages policy invites workers to accept a two-year wage freeze in return for an up-front and subsequent wage increases of 3 per cent per year over four years.
Mr Ferguson said the current wages policy is not fit for purpose in the current cost of living crisis and blamed former Qantas boss Alan Joyce for the lack of adaptability.
"There was a deadline set for engineers in Tamworth to say you needed to sign on to the wage freeze by the end of March, otherwise you won't get your $5000, so here we are negotiating in 2023 being threatened with losing a $5000 bonus from 2019," he said.
![Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union organiser Tim Ferguson said about 25 union members work in the Tamworth maintenance hangar and are thinking of taking "more visible" industrial action against their employer. Picture by Gareth Gardner Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union organiser Tim Ferguson said about 25 union members work in the Tamworth maintenance hangar and are thinking of taking "more visible" industrial action against their employer. Picture by Gareth Gardner](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/200003594/9d10a7c0-1bd9-43b4-8f8d-2a0ab95bb966.jpg/r0_0_7513_4942_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
He said AMWU members had foregone the $5000 boost, and that workers were saying they'd been undervalued for too long and need real wage growth, not a one-off bonus.
Qantas has been catching flak from the government, media, and even its own shareholders as the company faces a parliamentary inquiry into why the government denied a Qatar Airways bid to run more flights into Australia.
Earlier this week the airline's new chief executive Vanessa Hudson admitted the company has lost the trust of many of its customers and promised an $80 million investment into customer improvements.
![QantasLink employs about 125 people in Tamworth, where many of the company's Q-series planes are maintained. Picture by Gareth Gardner QantasLink employs about 125 people in Tamworth, where many of the company's Q-series planes are maintained. Picture by Gareth Gardner](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/200003594/6cb3faf5-1835-42c9-ab1d-e007e3d2e0c0.jpg/r0_0_7324_5062_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
But Mr Ferguson said the company's next moves shouldn't leave skilled workers in regional areas behind.
"These people have done a four-year apprenticeship and are working on multi-million dollar aircraft for what should be the premier airline in the country, and within their own business they've proven they can afford to pay far more," he said.
Mr Ferguson also said union members were concerned with the company's over-reliance on contract workers and how hard it has been to fill full-time positions at Tamworth's maintenance hangar.
"Qantas has all but given up on filling these roles because each time they put an advertisement out people come to interview with an interest in moving to Tamworth, but they see the rates of pay and essentially do a 180 and leave," he said.
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