Striking Qantas engineers have taken their protest to the airline’s annual general meeting in Hobart, accusing the company of ‘putting profit over people’.
Around 600 line maintenance engineers across the country are carrying out two four-hour stoppages on Friday as part of a 20-week strike.
The engineers say the skies are not safe when specialist personnel are not fairly compensated or valued.
“They are eating the pie and we can’t even get a slice,” Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) National Secretary Steve Murphy told the crowd gathered outside the Crowne Plaza hotel in Hobart.
The industrial action is the latest in a series of strikes by the Qantas Engineers’ Alliance since late September, after pay negotiations underway since April failed to reach a resolution.
The Alliance is asking for a five per cent pay rise per year, starting with a 15 per cent pay rise this year to compensate to 3.5 years of wage freezes.
A Qantas spokesperson said the strike action will not impact flights in Tasmania, particularly as the airline does not have any engineers permanently based in the state.
“Our teams have worked hard to put contingencies in place and we expect there to be no impact to our customers,” they said.
