One Man's take
We are all on different Contracts and now that Cathay stores our Contracts electronically, they believe they are liberty to amend them as they see fit.
However, the Contract I signed is Veta COS 1999. Frankly, any amendments made to that originating document without my consent are not relevant.
BPP is Clause 9 and Retirement is Clause 35 in my Contract and I shall use that numbering. I understand these clauses are similar, if not identical, in all our Contracts (except COS08) but may have different numbering. By way of Clause 9, retention of Captains beyond the Retirement Age (RA) triggers BPP. Clause 35 defines Normal Retirement Age as 55th Birthday.
The question is, does a change in Cathay's RA Policy change my Contract? Again, my premise is that without my consent the wording stays the same. The company could have, and chose not to, put in my contract any phrases such as "Retirement Age as amended by Statute or Company Policy". You note such phrases litter other Clauses, but not this one.
It is important to look at what the intention of the parties were upon signing. Somewhat uniquely in terms of Employment, I was offer a "career plan" that was based upon a stovepipe Seniority List, and BPP is my contractual compensation for that stovepipe becoming blocked. It matters not to me the reasons why the stovepipe becomes blocked and seemingly it didn't matter to the company who sought no Contractual protection either.
In short, the reasons to a blockage to career progression are not my concern. The fact that career progression is blocked is the only concern.
Last edited by Liam Gallagher; 23rd Oct 2008 at 03:47.