THOUSANDS of travellers could be stranded over Christmas, as a QANTAS engineers strike threatens to ground planes in December and January.

The nation’s carrier faces a maintenance backlog after professional engineers said they would strike for up to five days at a time over work conditions.

The engineers said fatigue was the key issue for the strike and a call-out policy reportedly requiring them to respond to critical and complex engineering issues with less than five hours sleep between jobs.

The Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia (APESMA) asked passengers to understand that the strike action had been taken reluctantly, and that it would inevitably have an impact on Qantas’ maintenance schedule.

Groups of engineers working at Qantas’ heavy maintenance facilities in Sydney, Brisbane and Avalon will begin stopping work for periods of up to five business days.

APESMA Senior Industrial Officer Alison Rose said the engineers had been left with no choice but to ramp up industrial action.

She said several meetings held with Qantas management since engineers first took industrial action in mid-November had been unsuccessful.

Engineers are also demanding company-sponsored professional development to keep pace with new aviation technology.

Qantas is yet to respond to the strike action but said in November it had contingency plans to use senior management on after-hours call-outs to avoid any disruption.
Source： news.com.au