Ladies and Gentlemen,
You may be aware that the President of the HKAOA wrote to Mr. David Turnbull on 25th April 2002, asking that the Company agree to the commencement of industrial negotiations under the supervision of a mutually acceptable mediator.
Mr. Turnbull's reply, attached below, is self explanatory.
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3rd May, 2002
Captain Nigel Demery,
President,
Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association,
5/F., Daily House,
35-37 Haiphong Road,
Tsimshatsui,
Kowloon,
Hong Kong.
Dear Captain Demery,
I refer to your letter of 25th April 2002 (ref: C1029/pmw/02/031).
The Company's position on the path to be taken towards rebuilding a
constructive relationship has been communicated to you several times. We
have always made it clear that the HKAOA must cease every aspect of its
industrial campaign which has been designed to damage the Company's
interests, and demonstrate a sincere willingness to work towards
promoting those interests, before any resumption of dialogue can be
considered.
Talk now of mediation cannot cloak the destructive actions your
Association has taken. You reneged on a three year agreement in pursuit
of excessive pay and provident fund demands, you instituted a disruption
plan that inconvenienced tens of thousands, you encouraged your members
to act unprofessionally, you launched a campaign to convince passengers
not to fly Cathay Pacific, and you rejected compromise even after the
tragic events of last September devastated the airline industry. Your
work-to-rule regime, your recruitment ban and your continued
PR and
letter-writing campaign may be ineffective in practice, but they serve
to demonstrate the lack of sincerity in your proposal for mediation.
Perhaps the most contemptible aspect of your continued industrial
campaign is the effort to intimidate the recent joiners. I have seen
myself that your own HKAOA website is actively promoting this by
publishing their names, addresses and telephone numbers, as well as
using obscene language about these fellow pilots. I find it totally
unacceptable that you treat any employee of the Company in this way.
"Black-listing" fellow workers is an outdated industrial practice that
has no place in an association of professional pilots.
The position stated in your newsletters that you remain committed to
your original demands gives no encouragement that any form of
discussions could possibly be fruitful. Despite the very professional
facilitation by the Labour Department we failed to reach agreement on
these extreme demands last June, and the HKAOA abandoned the process in
favour of industrial action. Continuing to pursue such pay and benefit
objectives, and in such a manner, demonstrates a lack of understanding
of the economic realities of the airline industry.
Yours sincerely,
David Turnbull
Deputy Chairman & Chief Executive
DMT/pl