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A major union is hoping to force Qantas to pay millions in compensation to former workers whose jobs were illegally outsourced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Transport Workers Union (TWU) is suing Australia's national airline in the Federal Court over what it says is "the largest case of illegal sackings in Australia's corporate history".
A court previously found Qantas contravened the Fair Work Act by its decision to outsource the roles of almost 1700 ground staff at 10 Australian airports in late 2020.
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The airline fought the case all the way to the High Court, but it lost its appeal in September.
Qantas previously claimed the outsourcing would save more than $100 million a year to help cope with the impact of the pandemic on air travel.
As proceedings get underway today, the court is expected to hear three test cases of workers who were retrenched by the airline in order to determine an appropriate level of financial compensation.
The union's lawyer, Josh Bornstein, said outside court that the compensation should be "very, very substantial, running into the many millions of dollars".
Qantas also faces the prospect of being issued multi-million-dollar penalties for breaching the law.
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One of the sacked workers, Don Dixon, told media he was hopeful Qantas would do "the right thing" and compensate impacted workers.
"Three years ago we got thrown out the door unlawfully," he said.
"We did absolutely nothing wrong, except turn up, do our job, go home and keep the travelling public safe."
TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said some workers had lost properties and had "family breakdowns" as a result of losing their jobs.
"These workers have been dragged to hell and back through two painful unsuccessful deals, through a failed mediation process," he said.
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Bornstein said one of the key issues to be dealt with by the court was the assertion by Qantas that it would still have been forced to let workers go during the pandemic if it had not outsourced their roles.
"We argue that the workers would have remained in employment for a significant period of time and as a result are entitled to a significant amount of compensation," he said.
During today's hearing, Justice Michael Lee blasted union lawyers for failing to bring another claim for compensation – for the loss of membership fees as the result of workers being let go – at the same time as the former employees' case.
"Why have you sat on your backside and not brought an application for compensation?" he asked barrister Mark Gibian SC.
"Such a case could have been worked up, seems to me, in a matter of days or hours, not months and months."
The court heard 716 of the dismissed workers were members of the TWU, however Lee noted some of them would likely have found alternative work within the industry and retained their membership.
The judge said he had made efforts for the claim to be heard at the earliest possible time to allow workers to be paid any compensation quickly.
Qantas said it also wanted the former workers to receive "fair compensation as quickly as possible".
"Qantas sincerely apologises and deeply regrets the personal impact the outsourcing decision had on these former employees," a spokeswoman said in a statement.
