Outspoken Labor backbencher Doug Cameron says the government will have to consider changing the Fair Work Act to make sure companies can't abuse the law like he says Qantas did on the weekend.
The Flying Kangaroo grounded its entire fleet of aircraft on Saturday evening ahead of a planned worker lockout on Monday.
That forced the Gillard government to ask Fair Work Australia to intervene and terminate all industrial action.
Senator Cameron, a former top union official, said Qantas's behaviour was "reprehensible".
"This is just unacceptable if you are going to shut down an airline without even a word to the federal government, your shareholders and your employees," the NSW senator told ABC TV.
"Obviously we'll need to look at the Act in terms of how we can avoid this in the future.
"This is an issue that I'm sure will be debated within government.
"We cannot allow a company like Qantas to ever do this to the Australian public again."
