Sydney Airport security screening staff to strike Thursday over pay and conditions at contractor Certis
Why It MattersThe dispute highlights how airports can outsource security screening to contractors while facing pressure over pay when their own aeronautical profits are strong.
What happened
Security screening staff at Sydney Airport are set to conduct protected industrial action on Thursday, September 25, 2026, after 99 per cent of workers voted in favour of the strike. Workers will hold two 2-hour stoppages — from 7:30am to 9:30am and 6:00pm to 8:00pm — over pay and conditions at their employer, contractor Certis.
The Transport Workers' Union (TWU) said security screening workers are "at breaking point after years of Sydney Airport driving down wages and conditions, despite making massive profits." TWU NSW State Secretary Richard Olsen cited Sydney Airport's "highest-ever aeronautical profit" of $584.3 million in 2024-25, accusing the airport of "years of cost-cutting." The TWU called on Sydney Airport, which contracts Certis to provide security screening services, to fund "decent wages and reliable jobs," including more full-time positions, fair pay, and job security for workers it described as performing critical safety roles.
The Certis strike will coincide with a separate 24-hour work stoppage at Qantas Ground Services (QGS). Qantas Freight and QantasLink ground handling staff are also planning strike action. Sydney Airport said it is implementing contingency planning to minimise disruption, including rostering extra staff in baggage rooms and additional passenger facilitation staff in terminals. "We are aware of tomorrow's industrial action at the airport and are working closely with all parties to minimise disruption and maintain passenger safety," an airport spokesperson said. The airport recommended passengers allow extra time and monitor communications from their airline.
Industry impact & what to watch
This dispute sits at the intersection of two separate but overlapping pressures on airport operations: outsourced labour contracts and simultaneous strike action from multiple unrelated groups on the same day. Security screening at Sydney Airport is performed by a third-party contractor, Certis, rather than the airport operator itself, which is a common structure in aviation security and one that puts pay negotiations a step removed from the entity the union is targeting for profit-based demands.
The timing compounds the operational risk: the Certis stoppages overlap with a 24-hour Qantas Ground Services strike and planned action by Qantas Freight and QantasLink ground handling staff, meaning screening, baggage and ground handling functions are affected concurrently rather than in isolation. That combination is what tends to force contingency measures like extra rostered staff, since a single-function strike is easier to absorb than parallel action across several service layers.
What happens next will turn on whether Certis and the TWU reach a settlement on pay and full-time positions before further action is called, and on how much disruption the Thursday stoppages actually cause given Sydney Airport's contingency staffing. The airport's own statement about maintaining passenger safety alongside minimising disruption signals that safety protocols, not just queue times, are the operational constraint regulators and passengers will be watching.
