After months of negotiations that tested patience as much as pay packets, Qantas workers have voted to lock in a long-awaited wage rise and a set of roster protections designed to restore a measure of certainty to life on the tarmac and in the terminals.
Members of the Australian Services Union (ASU) approved a new Enterprise Agreement this week, delivering a minimum 5 per cent pay rise in the first year, backdated to 1 July 2025, and setting workers on a path to a 14 per cent increase by 2028. For an airline that has spent recent years preaching cost discipline with near-religious fervour, the result lands well north of its internal wage cap.
Just as significant as the dollars are the new rules around rosters. Under the agreement, staff will now be compensated for late changes to their working hours—an issue that has long fuelled frustration across the operational workforce.
ASU Assistant National Secretary Scott Cowen said the result reflected the staying power of a workforce that refused to accept another round of belt-tightening without some give-and-take.
“This is a significant win for Qantas staff who have secured significant wage increases from an airline that has focused on cost cutting measures,” Mr Cowen said.
“Our members have fought hard to lock in a pay rise of 14 per cent delivered between now and 2028. Crucially they have also secured protections that stop Qantas from expecting staff to accept changes to their rosters on short notice without any compensation.”
For an industry where fatigue management is not a slogan but a safety discipline, the roster provisions carry weight well beyond payroll.
“These roster protections are a major win for airline safety and a safeguard against fatigue and exploitation,” Mr Cowen said.
Yet the vote should not be mistaken for a wholesale restoration of trust. The union was quick to underline that confidence in Qantas management remains fragile after years marked by outsourcing, offshoring and industrial upheaval.
“While we celebrate this win, there is still more work to do,” Mr Cowen said.
“Members have voted for this deal because it delivers the financial security they deserve right now, but they remain deeply sceptical of a management team that continues to push outsourcing and cost cutting.”
The warning to Qantas was unmistakable.
“We are putting Qantas on notice: this agreement settles pay and conditions for now, but we will not stand by while jobs are outsourced and offshored,” Mr Cowen said.
“We will fight hard for well-paid, local jobs that help Australians get to where they need to go.”
For workers, it is a rare moment of leverage sticking. For Qantas, it is another reminder that the national carrier’s balance sheet may fly at altitude, but its industrial relations still taxi on very Australian ground.
by Michelle Warner – (c) 2025
Read Time: 2 minutes.
About the Writer
Michelle Warner is a storyteller with jet fuel in her veins — the sort of woman who could turn a long-haul delay into a lesson in patience and prose. She began her career in media publications, learning the craft of sharp sentences and honest storytelling, before trading deadlines for departures as a flight attendant with several major airlines. Years spent at thirty thousand feet gave her a keen eye for human nature and a deep affection for the grace and grit of travellers everywhere.
Now happily grounded, Michelle has returned to her first love, writing, with the same composure she once brought to a turbulent cabin. Her work combines an editor’s precision with a traveller’s curiosity, weaving vivid scenes and subtle humour into stories that honour the golden age of travel writing. Every line is a small act of civility, polished, poised, and unmistakably human.
