Australia's Qantas faces further strikes

Australian airline Qantas could face more strike action within days, with ground staff again ready to stop work over deadlocked talks on pay and conditions, according to a union official. Qantas was Tuesday forced to delay or cancel 55 domestic flights after close to 4,000 baggage handlers, caterers and freight workers stopped for four hours at major airports around the country. Transport Workers Union (TWU) national secretary Tony Sheldon said meetings with Qantas in Sydney on Wednesday had again failed to resolve the issue and members would be deciding within days on what steps to take next. "I can see that the potential is as early as next week that industrial action could be occurring," Sheldon told reporters. He accused Qantas of having "an absolute lack of desire" to alter their position during the past five months of negotiations. "Quite clearly this has all the appearances of further industrial action," he said. "It's not action we've been looking forward to but it's action that Qantas, obviously, ideologically wants to have." Qantas said it was committed to reaching an agreement and was willing to offer improved pay and conditions but the union's demands for a 15 percent pay increase over three years were unreasonable. "The union seems intent on holding Qantas to ransom and causing delays and disruptions to passengers," a spokesman for the airline said. Ground staff are arguing for pay and pension increases in their new contracts as well as job security as Qantas undertakes an Asia-focused restructure which will see 1,000 airline staff sacked. Unions have accused Qantas, which last month doubled its annual net profit to Aus$250 million (US$257 million), of preparing to outsource jobs to cheaper labour markets in Asia in a bid to improve its bottom line. Pilots and engineers are engaged in similar contract talks with Qantas, with unions representing both groups engaged in low-level industrial action. The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association have been staging one-hour scheduled stoppages for almost a month and have placed restrictions on the overtime their members work. On Friday, engineers working in heavy maintenance facilities in Brisbane and Melbourne will strike for their full shift.