Virgin Australia Cabin Crew Move Toward a Strike Vote as Qantas Ground Workers Walk Out Wednesday

Virgin Australia’s cabin crew will soon vote on whether to take industrial action, the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) said on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. The union says fatiguing rosters and pay that has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels are at the center of the dispute.

No strike has been called and no dates exist. A vote is the first legal step under Australia’s Fair Work rules, and several more have to happen before any flight attendant could walk off the job.

What the cabin crew want

According to the TWU’s statement, crew are asking for fairer rostering, lower duty limits, longer minimum rest periods and a clearer path up the pay classifications. The union says the airline has refused to commit to rostering changes, and describes fatigue among crew as reaching crisis levels.

The union frames the dispute around Virgin’s owner, Bain Capital. It says Bain has taken A$2.7 billion out of the airline since its 2020 purchase for A$730 million, and it points to the A$501 million profit Virgin posted for the last financial year, following its IPO.

“Virgin cabin crew took cuts to their pay and conditions during COVID to get airline through administration,” TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said. He added that crew are “still operating under crisis conditions that have seen them regularly pushed to exhaustion.”

The TWU’s statement does not say the union has yet lodged a ballot application for cabin crew with the Fair Work Commission; it says only that crew “will soon vote.” It does say the TWU and the Australian Services Union (ASU) have applied for a protected action ballot covering Virgin’s guest services staff, who are also seeking fairer rosters.

Virgin Australia had not published a response at the time of writing, and Travel Weekly’s report on the announcement carried no airline statement. For background on how duty and rest limits work, see our explainer on airline crew rest rules.

How a protected action ballot works

In Australia, a strike during bargaining is only legal, or “protected,” if workers first win a ballot ordered by the Fair Work Commission. The union applies, and the Commission must deal with the application within two working days as far as practicable.

If the Commission grants the order, it also orders all bargaining representatives into a compulsory conciliation conference during the ballot period. The action is only approved if the union attended that conference, at least half the employees on the voting roll took part, and more than half the votes were in favor.

Even after a yes vote, crew cannot strike the next morning. The union must give Virgin written notice of at least three working days, or up to seven if the Commission finds exceptional circumstances, and that notice cannot be given until the ballot result is declared.

Action then has to start within 30 days of the result to stay protected, though the Commission can extend that window. For travelers, the practical point is that any cabin crew stoppage would come with at least three working days’ written notice to Virgin, giving the airline time to plan around it.

The last time: a 99% vote and no strike

Virgin’s cabin crew have been here before. In November 2023, the TWU said crew would apply for a protected action ballot, and on December 4, 2023, it announced the result: 90% turnout and 99% in favor of 24-hour stoppages.

Ten days later, on December 14, Virgin announced an in-principle agreement with the TWU and the Flight Attendants’ Association of Australia, reached in talks facilitated by the Fair Work Commission. The airline said the deal would deliver pay rises of 15% or more over three years, depending on each crew member’s skill and tenure.

That history is a useful guide to what may happen next. A strong yes vote gives the union leverage before the summer peak, and in 2023 the dispute was settled before any stoppage took place.

Qantas ground workers strike on Wednesday

The Virgin announcement lands a day before hundreds of Qantas ground workers hold another 24-hour strike on Wednesday, October 28. The TWU says the walkout covers Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth airports.

The workers move freight, including for Australia Post, and handle some QantasLink operations in Sydney, and they are spread across the subsidiaries QAL, QGS and AAE. The union wants higher pay, more full-time jobs and the workforce brought back under one Qantas banner.

Qantas says it does not expect disruption. “We will have strong contingency plans in place and do not expect this action to cause any disruption to QantasLink customers,” a Qantas spokesperson told Australian Aviation.

The spokesperson added that these employees do not handle Qantas Domestic or Qantas International flights, or QantasLink outside Sydney. Qantas has put a new agreement directly to QGS staff, with pay rises of up to 26% over its life and back pay to September 2025, the outlet reported.

Wednesday’s walkout follows an earlier strike in September, when the Qantas ground staff struck alongside Sydney Airport security screeners. With Virgin’s crew now heading toward a ballot, unions are pressing both of Australia’s major airline groups ahead of the holiday season.