00:00Around 600 line maintenance workers walked off the job at 7 a.m. nationwide.
00:07Now, these are the workers responsible for towing and marshalling an airplane on the tarmac,
00:12as well as conducting final safety checks before a plane departs.
00:16So they play a pretty crucial role in the running of an airline.
00:19Now, these workers are striking nationwide,
00:22and they've timed it around the Qantas AGM in Hobart this morning.
00:26They're essentially calling for better wage growth.
00:28These workers say that their wages haven't increased in three and a half years during the pandemic,
00:34and they haven't kept up with inflation.
00:36They're calling for a 5% wage increase, as well as a one-off 15% pay rise.
00:42Now, the union representing these workers says that they're a little bit like roadside assistants for planes.
00:47If a plane breaks down or something happens on the tarmac,
00:50these are the workers who go out and actually help them.
00:53This is what a union spokesperson said earlier.
00:56We've decided to take this action because I just can't stress enough
00:59how frustrated these workers are with the level of goodwill
01:02that they've shown Qantas during their darkest days
01:05to make sure that we got through COVID safely,
01:07the aircraft are always leaving the ground,
01:09and after four out of the last 10 years having wage freezes,
01:12that Qantas can't come to the table with a fair deal that recognises their skills,
01:17but more importantly, the fact that it's their reputation of safety
01:22is built on the shoulders of these workers.
01:25And Victoria, what about passengers? Are they being affected?
01:30Well, look, Dan, we've been at Sydney Domestic Airport now for a couple of hours
01:34and as far as I can tell, no flights seem to have been impacted or are running late.
01:39In fact, it seems to be pretty smooth here.
01:42Passengers are unaware of the strike as well.
01:45Now, these workers have been striking since September
01:48and Qantas says since September there's been minimal to no impacts on passengers.
01:53They say they have around 400 maintenance crew working nationwide today,
01:58so they don't expect there to be any impacts today.
02:01There is another strike planned for later this afternoon, later this evening,
02:04my apologies, at 6pm Sydney time.
02:07That's another four-hour stoppage.
02:09So if you are catching a flight today,
02:11it might be wise to get to the airport a little bit early.
02:14This strike this morning is a four-hour strike as well,
02:17so time will tell if there are flown impacts from the strike today.
02:23For more UN videos visit www.un.org
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