Terminals across Australia are experiencing major delays as Qantas employees go on strike. The situation is evident in domestic terminals in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth as well as in international terminals in Sydney in Brisbane.

The airline’s baggage handlers, cleaners and caterers went on strike at 9am (AEST). The strike is seen to last until 1pm (AEDT), while the Qantas is docking the workers’ pay.

According to Transport Workers Union federal secretary Tony Sheldon, the members were concerned about outsourcing their jobs to a cheaper company as well as failure of airport security to check staff. He adds that these issues were not new. The union was calling for an independent audit of security throughout the Qantas opertions.

Sheldon points to last week’s bashing of Anthony Zervas by an outlaw bikie gang in the Qantas domestic terminal as a sign of falling security standards. With 25 airport staff now outsourced, it means the stringent security checks that other staff face are not being employed for them.

In response to the strike, Qantas has lodged an appeal in the Industrial Relations Commission to get the workers back on the job, saying the action is “illegal”. Qantas spokesman David Epstein says: “There were no grounds for the action and they’ve chosen to do it and there are consequences for that sort of thing.”

“The law is quite simple: if people walk off in unauthorised industrial action, they don’t get paid for four hours,” adds Epstein. “We make no apologies whatsoever for taking a hard line on unauthorised industrial action,” he says.

Flights currently affected at the Brisbane International terminal include Eva Airways BR3 16, Qantas QF 15, Qantas QF 51 and Air New Zealand 136.