Cathay talks deadlocked as work-to-rule action looms

Talks to head off industrial action on Cathay Pacific flights were deadlocked early this morning as the airline made a last-ditch effort to avoid industrial action over Christmas.

The meeting involving Cathay management, the Cathay Pacific Flight Attendants Union and the Labour Department began at 11am yesterday and was still going on after 1am.

A source with knowledge of the meeting said three items were on the agenda and that the sides were "still trying to resolve the last item".

The source said the union planned to go ahead with a work-to-rule today at the earliest if the dispute was not resolved. It has already sent an "action guidebook" to its 6,000 members about how their action should be carried out.

The dispute was prompted on November 30 when the airline announced a 2 per cent pay rise for its cabin crew, well below the 5 per cent the union had been demanding.

The source said the union was willing to drop its insistence on the higher pay rise but called for the airline to compromise on three issues in return.