The Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price is down after the airline lost its High Court appeal.
The Australian High Court was considering an appeal by Qantas against a Federal Court decision that found the airline had illegally sacked staff.
Qantas Airways share price
Qantas loses in court
As reported by the ABC, the jobs of baggage handlers and cleaners at 10 airports were outsourced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) had told the High Court that the airline had also been “motivated to head off industrial action when things return to normal.” The union argued that the sackings were in breach of the Fair Work Act, which stopped actions that interfered with a worker’s rights.
The ABC reported that the High Court was considering whether the workers had the rights at the time of the outsourcing, as suggested by the union.
Australia’s High Court decided to unanimously reject the appeal by Qantas, which now means that the workers are able to seek compensation.
What will this mean for the airline’s leadership?
Qantas accepted the High Court’s decision – did it have a choice? – and apologised to workers. It maintained it took the decision to help the company survive through COVID-19, at a time when borders were closed and no vaccine existed. The Qantas share price was also suffering during that period.
The ABC reported that the TWU suggested this should be a trigger to “spill the Qantas board” – meaning that shareholders can decide to get rid of board members.
The TWU national secretary Michael Kaine also said about Alan Joyice:
Qantas workers have made history today. It has been three years and 20 days since Alan Joyce first announced the decision to outsource these workers.
The final act of this [Qantas] board should be to strip Alan Joyce of his bonuses and follow him out the door.
The Joyce regime has been toppled, but the airline cannot achieve the reset necessary for its survival under the same board that resided over the largest case of illegal sackings in Australian corporate history.
Final thoughts on the Qantas share price
The airline is facing a lot of external pressure, including from the ACCC regarding cancelled flights that it was still advertising tickets for.
I think it may take years rather than months for these issues to play out, and travel demand has already largely recovered, so I don’t see many positives for the airline. There are other ASX shares I’d look at as opportunities.
