An Australian court has sentenced to a fines of the Qantas airline giant $ 90 million (43 million pounds sterling; $ 59 million) for illegally dismissed some 1,700 ground employees during the COVVI-19 pandemic.
The Syndicate of Transport Workers in Australia said it had welcomed the decision, which said it had marked the greatest penalty of the country’s history.
The judge of the Federal Court, Michael Lee, said in the judgment he wanted the amendment to act as a “real deterrence” for other employers.
The BBC contacted Qantas to comment.
The largest airline in Australia faced a legal battle for several years about its decision in 2020 to outsource its staff operations staff, which, according to it, was a necessary financial measure as the aviation industry stopped during the pandemic.
The court ordered qantas to pay $ 50 million in penalty directly to the Transport Workers Union, which had continued the airline during the layoffs.
The decision marked the “end of a five -year battle by David and Goliath” and is a “moment of justice for the faithful workers who loved their jobs in the airline,” the transport union said in a statement.
The penalty is in addition to an indemnity of $ 120 million that Qantas had agreed to pay to dismiss the workers in 2024, after losing several calls before the courts.
