My Take | Cathay’s massive lay-offs the death knell of unionism
- It is not that the airline’s staff have had it too good in union welfare, but that practically all other industrial sectors have had it so bad
Believe it or not, post-1997 Hong Kong actually had a collective bargaining law. It was passed shortly before the handover of sovereignty, but quickly killed in less than three months in the so-called provisional legislature, by an unholy alliance of business and government.
The airline has culled 8,500 jobs and the Dragon brand, while remaining staff have been given just two weeks across all levels to consider accepting pay cuts of up to 36 per cent.
Around 4,000 cabin crew, 600 pilots, and 700 ground staff and office workers have been made redundant in Hong Kong alone.
Cathay’s restructuring comes after it received a HK$30 billion bailout from the government along with HK$680 million for both Cathay and its subsidiary cargo, frequent flier and laundry businesses.
It is being blamed on the coronavirus pandemic. But if so much public money couldn’t save more jobs, you wonder what the bailout is actually for and who it really benefits.