NOW that the whole sorry mess of the Cathay Pacific saga has almost come to a close, I would like to air my views.

I feel the flight attendants had genuine grievances with the company and had a democratic right to stand up to them. From what I gather this had been building up for some time, giving a ''cause and effect''.

If Cathay Pacific had given some leeway, then this ugly episode may have been avoided. Instead, the stubborn bureaucratic attitude of the company gave rise to the cause thereby resulting in a loss to the company of more than $150 million. It amazes me that the people at the top are still in their nice cosy jobs with their arrogant attitudes. Mrs Fok and the Labour Department are like ''toothless tigers'' when it comes to the crunch and Cathay Pacific management is acting like a Roman emperor giving the ''thumbs down'' sign to suppress and to take even more advantage of staff as punishment.