A staff training programme between the Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company, or HAECO, and its mainland subsidiary has been suspended because of a dispute over the way trainees are allegedly treated.
The decision by Taikoo (Xiamen) Aircraft Engineering Company to temporarily halt the programme and send 140 of its aircraft maintenance trainees back to Xiamen in Fujian comes after a meeting to try to resolve the dispute failed to materialise.
Aircraft maintenance is highly specialised and labour-intensive work requiring skilled and experienced technicians to ensure passenger and cargo planes are in good working order. Business at HAECO suffered as airlines cut costs and reduced the number of planes in the air as fewer people chose to fly in the global downturn.
The dispute revolves around accusations that the trainees were being exploited as cheap labour by HAECO.
A meeting between the management of the Xiamen subsidiary, or TAECO, and the trainees to better understand the situation was scheduled for 2pm yesterday at the airport. But the trainees insisted that a representative of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions join them at the meeting, a request that was rejected by TAECO.
The trainees will return to Xiamen, where TAECO's management hopes to meet them.
Labour chief Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said the case involves many different government bureaus, including the immigration department, but said officials would try to see how the matter could be resolved. The trainees want help from the Labour Department.