CANBERRA: Australia airline Qantas on Monday warned that a nationwide strike by airport baggage handlers and ground staff will affect more than 6,100 passengers, reports Xinhua News.
As part of an ongoing row with Qantas’s management over pay and conditions, members of the Transport Workers Union (TWU) at major airports will stop work for four hours during Tuesday’s morning peak.
In respond to the strike action, Qantas has canceled 28 flights on Tuesday and delayed another 27 by up to 35 minutes.
It said there could be delays for up to 48 hours after the strike ends, and it plans to use larger aircraft and will call on management staff to try and minimize the impact.
“We apologize to our passengers who will be caught up in this strike action from the Transport Workers Union,” Qantas Spokeswoman Olivia Wirth said in a statement issued on Monday.
Wirth said Qantas has been negotiating with the union since May and is willing to offer “reasonable pay increases.”
“The TWU are asking for 15 percent pay increase over the next three years, which is just not sustainable in the current economic climate,” she said.
Last week TWU National Secretary Tony Sheldon said the airline’s “aggressive” management strategies had caused union members to strike.
“The bottom line is that Qantas is not showing our members anything like reasonable respect,” Sheldon said in a statement.