Strike averted: Cathay Pacific flight attendants back pay deal
Airline union says 4 per cent rise acceptable as Hong Kong’s biggest carrier says economic uncertainties prevented it from offering more
Cathay Pacific Airways' flight attendants have backed a 4 per cent pay rise offer as the threat of industrial action over the busy Christmas holidays will apparently not materialise.
Cabin crew and ground staff look set to benefit from the wage increase, effective next year, while receiving a bonus worth four weeks' salary. Under the deal, lower-paid employees are to receive increases at the top end, and senior staff are to get a raise of up to 3.8 per cent.
Describing the deal as a result of a change in "attitude" by the airline, a union chief said the meeting cleared the skies for smoother relations with management, handing travellers more certainty that strike threats would not occur.
Dora Lai Yuk-sim, chairwoman of the Cathay Pacific Airways Flight Attendants Union, responding to a question on future pay demands should Cathay's financial and business outlook improve, said: "At this point, we will put the pay rise issue aside."
Lai described the airline as adopting a more "sincere" approach towards the latest round of talks.
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"I think the reason why there is a change is the unity we have shown in our members after the May dispute, really a show of collective bargaining," she said. "I think that's the key to the smooth negotiation."