I hear the HKAOA has been consulting with ALPA and other U.S. pilot associations...
Latest news doesn't appear encouraging:
June 29, 2001
Cathay Pacific Negotiations
With Pilots Union Collapse
By ZACH COLEMAN
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
HONG KONG -- Talks between Cathay Pacific Airways and its pilots' union broke down late Thursday after the union spurned a settlement proposal from the airline, increasing the possibility that the union will begin its threatened industrial action on Sunday.
The union is demanding that Cathay stick closer to monthly duty schedules and that it end differences in pay and benefits among pilots depending on date of hire and whether the pilot is based in his or her home country.
Cathay said its offer included hourly raises of 10.5% for pilots hired after 1993 and 5%-6% for those hired before that date. The offer also included revised overtime-pay calculations, increased retirement fund contributions, extended maternity leave and higher housing and children's education benefits for expatriate pilots.
Tony Tyler, Cathay's director of corporate development, questioned the union's interest in reaching an agreement and said they didn't present a meaningful counterproposal. He also said the union increased demands in response to concessions.
"We have put a lot of money on the table to keep the Hong Kong public traveling at a time when the airline industry and the regional economy remains shaky," said Mr. Tyler. "Anything more would be impossible and would clearly compromise our long-term competitiveness."
John Findlay, general secretary of the pilots' union, the Aircrew Officers Association, described the breakdown as "an impasse in negotiations," but said the union is willing to continue negotiations Friday.
A union representative wasn't available to comment on Cathay's proposal or the nature of Thursday's negotiations.
The pilots voted last week to begin "limited industrial action" on Sunday and planned to distribute instructions to members Friday. Cathay said if the union proceeded with instructions it would break off talks to focus on preparations to accommodate passengers during the three-day holiday weekend. Mr. Tyler said the carrier is making preparations to charter planes and rebook passengers on other airlines.
The union hasn't specified what its actions would be. A letter sent to members by Mr. Findlay said, however, that if Cathay threatened pilots with dismissal as it did during a 1999 confrontation, and they therefore feared going to work, they could be considered "unfit to fly."