Cathay Pacific pilots have voted to continue with their six-month industrial action because of a dispute with the airline on rostering, despite having finally settled another wrangle over pay. The new complaint comes after the airline terminated the rostering pattern agreement it signed with the union years ago. The pilots' work-to-rule action has been going since December, called by the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association - which represents 2,100 of Cathay's 2,900 pilots - to protest against what they saw as an insufficient pay rise. The tactic, in which pilots work to the letter of their contract and refuse to come in on scheduled days off, worked. The airline offered a larger pay rise last month, which the union's membership accepted this month. But just when it appeared the action could finally end, the airline terminated the rostering pattern agreement that it had signed with the union years ago. The agreement gave the union some power to decide, together with the airline, the rostering pattern of the pilots. "No full explanations have been given" as to why the agreement was cancelled, union general secretary Chris Beebe said yesterday. Pilots say the agreement is important because it affects their quality of life, dictating how many hours they must fly every month, and destinations. They also say the airline is planning to cut the number of pilots on long-haul flights from four to three. It means pilots will have fewer hours of rest on these flights. "Lack of rest can lead to safety problems," one pilot said. Another agreed and added: "Once we lose the contractual protection, we lose it for ever; and we believe that Cathay will use and abuse the possibility to decrease manning levels as much as possible and right up to the limit of what is allowed." A Cathay spokesman said the airline had been in communication with the union on rostering practices and had submitted a new proposal, "which includes a number of improvements", but "we understand the association has their own internal process". The spokesman acknowledged that "there is a proposal to adjust the crewing level on some specific flights between Europe and Hong Kong", but stressed it was "fully compliant with international civil aviation regulations" as well as those of the Civil Aviation Department.
