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Australia

Qantas ordered to resume flying

An Australian labour tribunal ordered an end to the industrial dispute between Qantas Airways and its employees on Sunday. The decision will allow Qantas flights to resume.

Stranded Qantas passengers will now be able to resume flying
Stranded Qantas passengers will now be able to resume flying Reuters
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"We have decided to terminate protected industrial action in relation to
each of the proposed enterprise agreements immediately," Fair Work
Australia said from Sydney.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard ordered in the independent mediation panel, who met on Sunday in an emergency session with hopes of settling disputes between Qantas and unions.

Gillard had urged the airline to end the industrial dispute, saying on Saturday that the strike could affect the country’s economy.

According to the AFP news agency, a government lawyer said that Qantas’ grounding was costing Australia’s economy tens of millions of dollars each hour.

Nearly 70,000 passengers were stranded Sunday due to the disputes. Qantas said that 447 flights were affected by the grounding of 108 aircraft in 22 cities, with stranded customers in hubs in Europe, Asia and the United States.

Unions have been at odds with Qantas over wages and working conditions, and the possibility of outsourcing pilots to hubs in Asia. They say restructuring plans would axe 1,000 jobs.

 

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