The Base Closure clauses I have seen state that officers will be offered another Home Base in the Base Area if there is a position available or a return to HKG (no ifs or buts - a return to HKG and continued employment). Redundancy pay out is
not linked to Base Closure at all.
The Base COS redundancy clauses clearly state that in the event of redundancy it will follow LIFO off the Common Redundancy List. The company is not following this.
Most of the guys I have spoken to who are non-
PR don't expect to get a work visa. They believe the company waited until a back room agreement was reached with IMMD so that their application for work visas will be declined, CX will claim their hands are tied and 'redundancy' is the only option.
Remember that the Aussies were on zero pay, the kiwis on about 1/2 and the Canadians offered to go onto zero pay. The company is pushing the closures so that they can make senior pilots 'redundant' in violation of the base COS LIFO and to have all pilots on POS18 back in HKG (POS18 would not be a legal contract on the bases as it gives no protection to the employees and isn't really a contract at all as anything of importance is company policy and subject to change without notice, solely at the company's discretion). The company expects most guys to either take the payout or be forced to take the payout due to lack of visa. Mass redundancies in breach of LIFO. The Hong Kong pilots are probably just thank full it isn't them (especially the 777 drivers).
That is what the bastards are getting aware with.
This isn't about survival of the company - they haven't had to draw down on the government support. This is about using covid to force employees on to Asian LCC contracts so the company can compete with the likes of HKA and GBA in the future. It is easier than making decisions to position CX as a premium carrier charging premium prices.
Any pretense of following contracts, treating employees with respect and compassion, being a 'team' and being engaged is completely gone.