Ground staff at Qantas Airways voted overwhelmingly for possible strike action over pay and working conditions, with 97% of 350 participating workers supporting stoppages ranging from one hour to 24 hours. No strike date has been set, and the Transport Workers Union must provide three days’ notice before industrial action. The workers are employed by Qantas Ground Services as casual and part-time staff supporting Qantas Freight and the regional Q-Link service, but not mainline or international operations. The union is seeking job security, higher pay after years of wage freezes and consolidation of scattered work groups under one Qantas structure. Qantas said negotiations through the Fair Work Commission (Australia’s workplace relations tribunal) remained constructive and that it was pursuing annual pay rises, more full-time opportunities and other employee priorities. The airline said it had contingency plans to limit disruption. Talks are scheduled to resume on September 18. The vote follows similar industrial action approval by Qantas’ long-haul pilots in early August, before they reached a wage agreement with the airline. Qantas reported A$2.06 billion ($1.47 billion) in annual underlying profit before tax on Thursday, down 14% because of higher fuel costs linked to the Middle East conflict.