The Coming Battle
Ladies & Gents. Battle isn't coming. Sabre rattling isn't battle; it never was.
Pre-dating the 49ers was the often conveniently forgotten FAU Strike of 1993. I was on the 'perfume picket line' outside company HQ at Kai Tak. The major crew industrial action that hugely impacted CX operations and very nearly brought the company to heel. At the time the pilots were also unhappy (talking of industrial action even in those days). As the strike action initially and effectively crippled operations there were rumours of the pilots belatedly joining the strike. With the pilots involved, the result would have most likely been very different. Everyone was asking: "When will the pilots join, where are they?" For their own reasons (which of course can easily be guessed) they didn't engage; the rest is history gentlemen, its that simple. The Flight Atttendants Union fought a sustained strike for weeks. The company used all the usual fear tactics to successfully divide the FAU membership eventually crushing the strike; amongst the fallout being terminations, disciplinary, colleagues turning against colleagues, yes ugly.
The main fallout though was that the company literally snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and in doing so now knew that the the pilots would never take any meaningful industrial action. Armed with that knowledge the company has acted accordingly down the years. So don't allow your seniors to tell you of previous valiant battles, it was only ever hot air with a little work to rule (contractual - zero risk - are we getting the picture, thrown in) To effect change you sometimes have to risk something. For the youngsters - that's up to you and no shame if you don't as the whole tapestry of the industry has changed and precedents have been set by your colleagues in the early 1990's.
Credit of course due to the 49ers but by then as you've read above, the company knew it could do as it pleased with just the normal sabre rattling. It was too late then and it has been ever since. At the one time when the universe was aligned in their favour, the Cathay pilots shied away and failed to engage.
Planeur
(Ex CX Kai Tak picket line)
P.S. Good luck to all CX staff in these difficult times.