CATHAY flight attendants who were stranded for up to eight days in Australia were mobbed by strikers outside the Cathay Pacific building at Kai Tak yesterday.
Tears flowed and there were hugs all round as the chants ''Sydney crew, welcome home, we love you. Melbourne crew, welcome home, we love you,'' went up from throats made hoarse from six days of picket-line shouting.
The 33 crew members who returned on a Qantas flight and arrived at the building in two buses were cheered as they struggled off the vehicles with their baggage.
Emotions spilled over as they caught their first glimpse of the solidarity of those taking part in the industrial action.
''I was stranded for four days with no money and no benefits in Sydney. We had to leave our hotel and went for a total of eight days without allowances after joining the others in Melbourne.
''The FAU (Flight Attendants' Union) paid our fares in full from Melbourne. We survived by transferring to other cheaper hotels and sharing what money we had,'' said Ms Gyla Santa Maria, one of the 33 who returned yesterday.