Taiwan’s EVA Air cabin crew call off strike after 17 days
- Unions strike deal with management to end industrial dispute that saw more than 1,200 flights grounded and hundreds of thousands of journeys disrupted
- Strike was the longest in Taiwanese aviation history and cost airline more an US$97 million
An unprecedented 17-day strike at Taiwan’s largest private airline that saw more than 1,200 flights cancelled and 300,000 passenger journeys disrupted has ended after management reached a collective agreement with cabin crew.
The strike at EVA Air was the longest in Taiwan’s aviation history and comes less than six months after another strike by pilots at its competitor China Airlines.
More than 2,300 cabin crew demanding better benefits and working conditions walked out last month after negotiations failed, causing three weeks of flight cancellations ahead of the busy summer holiday period.
Hundreds of striking workers burst into tears when news of the collective agreement was announced on Saturday evening.
“I want to tell EVA that you have messed with the wrong people,” a union representative Liao Yi-ching told a cheering crowd of cabin crew, the vast majority of whom are women.
The union said it will not strike for the next three years in return for increased flight stipends and a promise by the company not to pursue retaliatory action against employees who joined the strike.