The Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX: QAN) share price is in the red in morning trade.
Qantas shares closed on Friday at $5.28 each and are currently trading for $5.13 a share, down 2.84%.
The fall come despite the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) holding up better than expected, up 0.17% at this same time.
So, what's dragging the Qantas share price lower today?
What's happening with the flying kangaroo?
With some 1,800 trades going through within the first 40 minutes of market open today, valued at just under $6.1 million, there are certainly numerous issues investors are considering today when eyeing Qantas shares.
But looking at the 1.5% share price fall in Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) and the 1.67% drop in the Webjet Ltd (ASX: WEB) share price, we suspect some of the pressure on the Qantas share price today could be coming from the announced strike by its ground handlers.
If travellers needed more troubles as airlines and airports struggle to ramp back to pre-COVID levels of traffic, they may well get it next Monday, 12 September.
That's the day Dnata ground handlers have voted to go on strike for 24 hours. This will see 350 employees across Brisbane, Sydney, and Adelaide airports take a pause.
According to the Transport Workers Union (TWU), 96% of the polled workers were in favour of the 24-hour strike which, in turn, could put the Qantas share price under pressure.
Qantas stirred up ructions last year after the airline, facing huge losses from pandemic-related travel restrictions, outsourced some 2,000 ground handling functions to third-party companies, including Dnata.
Commenting on the industrial action, the TWU's national secretary, Michael Kaine said (courtesy of Australian Aviation):
Ground handling is a highly-skilled job, but thousands of experienced workers have been forced out of the industry by Qantas' illegal outsourcing and the Morrison Government refusing Dnata workers JobKeeper…
Workers understand the commercial pressure they're under from Qantas, but Dnata and [ground services contractor] Menzies must act responsibly and come back to the table to settle a fair deal or risk losing more staff.
In response to the ongoing wage negotiations that could throw up headwinds for the Qantas share price, Dnata stated:
We continue to work with our employees and their bargaining representatives and engage with them in good faith to create a sustainable platform for our future operations, including a commitment to exploring opportunities to provide greater full-time employment for our workforce which we have communicated to union representatives
Qantas share price snapshot
With today's losses factored in, the Qantas share price is up a slender 0.4% in 2022. While that may not sound overwhelming, it's well ahead of the 9.9% year-to-date loss posted by the ASX 200.
