Advertisement
Advertisement
Cathay Pacific
Get more with myNEWS
A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you
Learn more

Cathay Pacific flight attendants edge closer to strike action as deadline for talks passes

Cathay Pacific flight attendants are a step closer to a strike, their first in 22 years, as a promise of talks with airline bosses over pay and benefits failed to materialise.

Despite chief executive Ivan Chu Kwok-leung insisting his team was “ready” to talk, neither side managed to get around the negotiating table. The deadline passed at 10am this morning without arrangements for talks put in place, with the union saying the estimated strike date was between August 18-31.

Union chairwoman Dora Lai Yuk-sim said the Cathay CEO was the only person appropriate to engage with her negotiating team. An open letter to Chu was presented to a Cathay representative.

Outside, an estimated 350 flight attendants chanted that they were angry and called on management to respect the union.

Following a round-the-clock sit-in at Hong Kong International Airport for the last three days, members of the Flight Attendants Union (FAU) converged on Cathay’s headquarters this morning at Chek Lap Kok, turning up pressure ahead of the ultimatum.

“Our focus will be a clear-cut strike around the end of August,” Lai said, ruling out work-to-rule industrial action “because we do not wish to make ongoing [sporadic] disruption to passengers’ trips.”

A series of emails last night between Cathay and Lai failed to set an arrangement for talks.

“We’ll pre-announce the timeline so passengers can be well prepared for that as well,” she said.

The airline was hopeful however that it can reach an agreement with the union to avert strike action.

"We have full confidence in our colleagues that in every decision that they make their priority will be the convenience of our passengers," said the general manager of cabin crew Maggie Yeung.

"At the same time we will continue our communication with the union and wil hopefully resolve the issue very soon."

In one gesture, Cathay will reinstate legal protection for its cabin crew members.

"We will reinstate [the legal protection] in the recent notice we issued to cabin crew meaning it will be much more specific," Yeung said.

An estimated 3,000 flight attendants last went on strike in 1993 for 17 days over the peak Lunar New Year holiday, during the union’s confrontation with airline bosses over staffing and pay.

If industrial action went ahead in August, Cathay’s busiest time of the year, some 3 million passengers and more than 6,600 flights could be affected.

In a strike situation, a large numbers of crews will not cross picket lines and flight disruption is to be expected. In such an event, regional flights with a high frequency of daily services are usually consolidated to protect long-haul operations.

Unlike its shortage of pilots, Cathay has flight attendants in abundance, and is expected to carefully schedule every crew roster to prevent the cancellation of flights. However, in a work-to-rule situation cabin crew could work scheduled flights only and not fill-in for colleagues during standby duty. Or flight attendants may opt to work within their paid flying hours or on-duty period.

Crews can opt to trigger cancellations through tactical sickness, as last-minute replacement crews cannot be found. However, No.8 signal typhoons or higher could have the biggest impact as delays push crews close to exceeding allocated flying hours.

Strike action is likely to divide cabin crew as some will consider the financial consequences of taking part.

Post