MELBOURNE/SYDNEY (Reuters) – An Australian labor tribunal ordered Qantas Airways and its unions to immediately terminate all industrial action and return to the negotiating table to resolve a dispute after the airline grounded its entire global fleet.
Fair Work Australia, an independent industrial umpire, was appointed by the government Saturday after Qantas took the unprecedented step of grounding 108 aircraft, causing the cancellation of almost 500 flights and affecting nearly 70,000 passengers by Sunday afternoon.
Qantas took the drastic action to bring to a head a prolonged, bitter battle with its unions over pay and working conditions and a strategy to set up two new airlines in Asia.
The national carrier, which made a pre-tax profit of $552 million in the year to June 30, plans to cut 1,000 jobs and order $9 billion worth of new aircraft as part of a makeover to salvage its loss-making international business.
The tribunal said Qantas and
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