Cabin crew angry over extra hours
Cathay Pacific flight attendants have been asked to work longer hours without overtime payments or face potential lay-offs, salary cuts or loss of their bonus.
The proposal angered cabin crew who recently offered to help save the company money by staying at friends' homes instead of hotels between flights and eating untouched food from passengers' meal trays.
'We were willing to give up so much, but they insisted on increasing our flying hours from 72 hours to 80 hours a month,' said Becky Kwan Siu-wa, chairwoman of the Flight Attendants Union, which represents the airline's 5,500 attendants.
Company spokeswoman Quince Chong Wai-yan declined to discuss details of the proposal, citing ongoing negotiations.
But she said the proposal was in line with a company-wide goal of increasing productivity while controlling costs after the airline recorded a $175 million loss in the first half of this year, its first loss in 35 years.
'We anticipate continuing adverse conditions,' Ms Chong said. 'We wanted a win-win proposal.' Under the plan, flight attendants would get this year's one-month bonus and a pay rise of one to four per cent depending on their staff grade, Ms Kwan said. No forced lay-offs would be imposed for the next three years.
Representatives of the airline's 3,600 ground staff have already accepted a similar offer for next year requiring additional working hours for a pay rise.
Non-managerial ground staff would receive a 3.2 per cent rise while managerial and senior staff would receive a two per cent increase. In turn, they would have to work an extra 30 minutes a day if they were 'office' staff or an extra two hours a week if they worked changing shifts on a roster.
Raymond So Tat-kay, a member of the ground staff who manages products and services, said he found the offer reasonable.
'Look at other big companies, they're not giving a pay rise and look at Cathay, they were losing money last year,' Mr So said. 'Some people are never satisfied.' But Ms Kwan said the union fears increasing attendants' hours would lead to surplus staff, giving the company an excuse to lay off workers. 'It's not that we don't want to work eight more hours. But if it causes one of our colleagues to lose her job, then that's not what we want.' She urged the company to consider measures proposed by attendants which she said could save the company at least $176 million next year.
Cathay has not made a proposal to its 1,200 pilots, who are on a different salary review schedule.
