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The Terminal 1 departure hall of Chek Lap Kok airport is occupied by Cathay's cabin crew union undertaking a sit-in protest. Photo: Nora Tam

Cathay Pacific cabin crew stage marathon sit-in at Hong Kong airport

Protesters in their hundreds will stay at a public area of the airport until Thursday and may escalate action if the airline does not satisfy demands

Hundreds of Cathay Pacific flight attendants started a "marathon sit-in" at a passenger terminal of Chek Lap Kok airport yesterday, threatening to escalate their action to a work-to-rule or a strike if the airline did not meet three demands on pay and benefits.

Their union launched the round-the-clock sit-in at about 5pm yesterday - planning to hold out till 10am tomorrow - after almost all 1,300 members who voted at an extraordinary general meeting supported it.

The members' vote authorised the 6,300-strong Cathay Pacific Airways Flight Attendants Union to take further industrial action if the airline continued to give an unsatisfactory response to its three demands.

"We will not rule out pressing ahead with a work-to-rule action or a strike. We are targeting August," union chairwoman Dora Lai Yuk-sim said. "If members of the public are planning trips around that time, we advise them to adjust their itineraries."

The first demand concerns employees who have finished their initial three-year contracts. Those who signed permanent contracts before April 2 got a pay increase from HK$144.70 per hour of flight to HK$176.80, but those who signed after April 16 would see their wages rise to only HK$159.30. The union wants the hourly rate to be set at HK$176.80 across the board.

Secondly, it is seeking to reverse a recent cut in the lunch allowance for flight attendants in Melbourne, granting them A$60 (HK$372) per meal instead of A$35 (HK$217).

The union also wants to reinstate a legal protection clause Cathay has deleted from its operational manual. That line states the airline will "cover all legal costs resulting from an incident occurring whilst on duty".

Shortly after the sit-in began, a senior Cathay executive said the airline reviewed pay regularly.

The hourly rise to HK$159.30 - instead of HK$176.80 - still represented a 10 per cent increase, general manager of cabin crew Maggie Yeung said.

"They are getting a 10 per cent raise for performing the same duties. It is quite a desirable arrangement," she told reporters.

Yeung also said Cathay reviewed allowances every six months, taking into consideration changes in the restaurant menus of hotels the staff members stayed in.

She noted that the airline had decided, after the union's initial protest, to adjust the Melbourne lunch allowance to A$55.

On the removal of the legal protection item, Yeung said the airline felt it was not clear enough and merely wanted to improve it.

"Our [legal] support to staff involved in incidents while on duty has not changed," she said.

Still, flight attendants massed at the Terminal 1 departure hall.

"We are angry! Stop the cut! Build the trust!" they chanted. The union demanded the airline respond by tomorrow morning.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Cathay cabin crew in for the long haul
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