Cathay pay-rise row lands in court
Three Cathay Pacific flight attendants took the airline to court yesterday, arguing it had breached their contracts by denying them automatic pay rises.
The outcome of the case will affect more than 4,000 present and former attendants hired before 1996.
Esperanza Cruz Lajom, Calleja Maria Victoria Santos and Sushil Dev Biaspal are seeking a declaration on behalf of the 4,000 that flight attendants are entitled under their contracts to be moved automatically one grade every year on the salary and rank allowances scales.
The plaintiff's legal fight has the backing of the Flight Attendants Union, which negotiates members' work conditions with the company.
John Scott, SC, for the flight attendants, argued in the Court of First Instance that the automatic advancement should be determined by a worker's "seniority", not performance or other factors.
"Seniority is defined by the years of service ... There is no discretion for the employer to change that," he said.
The attendants claimed Cathay announced in December 1998 that there would be no annual increment the next year because of the Asian economic crisis.
They said the automatic grade advancement was terminated as a result.
Flight attendants were only offered their expected 3.5 per cent pay rise if they agreed to increase their monthly maximum working hours from 72 to 76.
They also argued the freeze had significantly affected their salaries in the subsequent years.
But Bob Nipperess, a witness for Cathay who worked as a cabin crew manager in the late-1980s, told the court that in 1991 the airline introduced a merit -based element into the system that had previously determined promotions by a worker's years of service.
The change was intended to recognise the different contribution made by individual employees.
The hearing will continue today before Mr Justice Anselmo Reyes.