TLDR
Around 650 Qantas Ground Services workers will walk off the job on 23 and 24 September 2026, hitting Qantas Freight and QantasLink at Sydney Airport as school holidays begin in three states. The Transport Workers Union ballot returned 344 yes votes to 8 against. Mainline and international Qantas flights are unaffected.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
A near-unanimous ballot and a school-holiday deadline
Of 352 members who voted in Fair Work Commission ballot B2026/959, 344 supported 24-hour stoppages and just 8 voted against.[1] That is a 97.7 per cent yes result across ten proposed protected actions, filed by the Transport Workers Union against Qantas Ground Services Pty Limited on 27 August 2026.
The timing is deliberate. Victorian workers walk off on Wednesday, 23 September 2026, with workers in other states following on Thursday, 24 September, as Queensland, Victoria and the Northern Territory enter school holidays.[2] Around 650 workers are involved, servicing Qantas Freight and QantasLink operations at Sydney Airport, while mainline domestic and international flights remain unaffected.
What the union wants and what it is accusing management of
The TWU's dispute centres on pay, job security and safety, and TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine framed it squarely as a replay of tactics from the previous Qantas leadership. "Old habits die hard and the same despicable Alan Joyce tactic of splintering the Qantas workforce has been dusted off by the new bosses who want to suppress wages and smash conditions. This is corporate greed on steroids and it comes at the expense of quality service for customers, and safe, reliable jobs for the workforce," Kaine said.[2]
Kaine also placed responsibility for any freight disruption directly on management. "Any disruption to freight, including Australia Post shipments, sits solely at the feet of Qantas management and its brutal disregard for customers and the workforce," he said.[2] The reference to Australia Post shipments signals that the commercial fallout could extend well beyond airline passengers.
Qantas says it has a plan
A Qantas spokesperson said the airline has "well developed contingency plans to minimise any impact on QantasLink customers and our operation" and the carrier is seeking to stop the action.[3] Qantas has not publicly detailed what those contingency arrangements involve.
The dispute carries considerable background weight. In December 2024, Qantas and the TWU reached a $120 million settlement for ground handlers outsourced during the COVID-19 pandemic. It followed the High Court upholding a Full Federal Court ruling that Qantas had contravened the adverse action provisions of the Fair Work Act. The current action involves workers who remain inside Qantas Ground Services, and the union argues that the same structural logic of fragmentation is being applied to them ahead of the 23 September stoppage.
SOURCES & CITATIONS
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Which Qantas flights are affected by the 24-hour strike?
When exactly do the stoppages happen?
What was the ballot result?
Vikram Singh writes about banking. He follows where money actually moves, from the strategy set in head office to what changes on a customer's phone.
