Security staff at Sydney Airport are set to strike for four consecutive nights this week, a spokesperson from the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) has confirmed to Travel Weekly.
Up to 50 Work Safety Officers will strike from 10pm to 1am from Monday through to Thursday. These workers are responsible for closing off the tarmac and airfield in the lead-up to Sydney Airport’s curfew.
The action escalates a dispute between security workers and their employer, airport security contractor Certis.
Last week around 400 Certis security screeners took part in strike action during the busy school holiday and footy season.
‘This is going to be disruptive’ – Double strike action hits Sydney Airport
Publicly announced industrial action had previously included a three-hour strike on Monday, 28 September. The TWU has now confirmed to Travel Weekly that workers will continue the action on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights.
The latest action comes as workers and Certis negotiate a replacement enterprise agreement.
A spokesperson from Sydney Airport confirmed tonight’s strike but said operations would not be impacted.
“Contingency plans are in place and there is no expected impact to passengers, flights or airport operations, which will continue as normal,” they said.
What are Sydney Airport security workers striking over?
The dispute centres on pay, secure employment, rostering and access to full-time work.
The TWU is calling for more full-time jobs, fair pay and greater job security. It argues many of the workers performing critical safety functions remain on insecure part-time hours and face changing rosters.
TWU NSW secretary Richard Olsen said the latest group of workers had reached breaking point.
“Last week saw security screeners bravely standing up and taking action against their wages and conditions being smashed by the country’s most profitable airport. Now critical security staff responsible for functions leading up to Sydney Airport’s curfew are also saying enough is enough,” Olsen said.
“Many of these workers are languishing on insecure part-time hours and poor pay, unable to secure a mortgage or even plan their roles around ever-changing rosters. With such safety-critical roles this is unacceptable at the busiest airport in Australia.”
Olsen said last week that the union had been negotiating with Certis for months and claimed some workers had been “forced to go part-time”.
The TWU has also put pressure on Sydney Airport itself, arguing the airport should fund better wages and more secure jobs through the contracts it awards to security providers.
“Certis needs to step up and provide job security for its security workers, but the buck doesn’t stop with them,” Olsen said.
“Sydney Airport which contracts this company, and rakes in huge profits, needs to step up too and ensure the people keeping passengers safe have secure, decent jobs.”
Certis has pushed back against suggestions its workers receive poor conditions.
A Certis spokesperson said “Certis values the work of our people and recognises the essential contribution they make to aviation security, safety and regulatory compliance.”
They continued: “Our employees who work at Sydney Airport and are covered by the current enterprise agreement receive pay and conditions that, when assessed as a whole, are materially above those provided under the relevant industry award. Their pay rates are also among the highest for comparable aviation security roles in Australia. This includes established agreement-based conditions and entitlements developed through previous bargaining rounds.”
“Our priority during the notified protected industrial action is to maintain aviation security, safety and regulatory compliance at all times.”
A structural problem?
While the current dispute is about a new Certis enterprise agreement, concerns about job security and outsourcing extend beyond Sydney Airport’s security workforce.
A 2022 Senate inquiry into the future of Australia’s aviation sector examined the increasing use of outsourcing, labour hire and insecure employment across the industry.
The inquiry heard evidence that outsourcing had been increasing as a cost-saving measure over several decades. It said a significant proportion of the aviation workforce had moved towards permanent part-time or casual employment.
“What were once reasonably-paid, secure jobs have increasingly been replaced by low-paid and insecure jobs filled increasingly by less experienced workers,” it found.
“Workers have been made to feel undervalued or dispensable, and many of those not outsourced have left the sector.”
‘Fragile and unstable’
The committee said the aviation sector had become “fragile and unstable” and backed the creation of an independent body with powers to establish and enforce standards across the aviation.
Four years later, outsourcing remains embedded in the way major Australian airports operate.
At Sydney Airport, Certis, rather than Sydney Airport itself, employs the security workers now taking industrial action.
The TWU’s concerns about that model pre-date the current pay negotiations.
In 2025, workers protested over uncertainty surrounding Certis’ Sydney Airport contract, calling for protections if the airport switched security providers.
Certis ultimately retained the Sydney Airport security contract for another five years.
Seeking greater security
Workers are now seeking greater security within their employment arrangements as negotiations over the next enterprise agreement continue.
The issue has also been acknowledged at a federal policy level.
The Australian Government’s 2024 Aviation White Paper said efforts to reduce costs through outsourcing had meant that parts of Australia’s aviation workforce had seen their “wages and conditions eroded”.
It noted that less attractive wages and conditions compared with other industries had contributed to recruitment difficulties.
That leaves a key question at the centre of this week’s dispute: whether improvements secured through individual enterprise agreements are enough to address the wider job insecurity identified across Australia’s aviation workforce.
