Not quite correct ronnie123....why not read it again:
Tuesday, April 22, 2003
Union seeks to end stalemate with Cathay
Pilots' leaders say they want to help the airline overcome the Sars crisis
JOSEPH LO
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Cathay Pacific pilots are likely to decide on Thursday to take the first step towards breaking a two-year stalemate between their union and the airline's management.
The Aircrew Officers' Association (AOA) is recommending that members support the cancellation of a call to pilots worldwide not to work for Cathay. The so-called recruitment ban was a cornerstone of the union's action in its battle with the airline over rostering and other issues.
The association said that in moving towards the lifting of the ban, it was demonstrating to Cathay a "real and genuine show of co-operation" in overcoming the Sars-fuelled collapse in air travel. The crisis prompted the airline to warn staff recently that all passenger operations were at risk of being shut down next month.
Union general secretary John Findlay said the pilots' demands for better rostering, pay and conditions had not changed but that the priority now was to assist the company in overcoming the "enormous problem of Sars".
A memo penned by the union's president, Nigel Demery, was sent to all members last week asking them to vote in support of lifting the ban, which was put in place nearly two years ago after more than 50 pilots were sacked. The dismissals followed a "sick-out" campaign that disrupted the airline's services for several weeks.
If the recruitment ban is lifted, the last vestiges of the industrial action that took place in the summer of 2001 will have been removed.
Ironically, the union's move for reconciliation comes just weeks after the United Nations' International Labour Organisation issued a statement expressing concern at the dismissal of the Cathay pilots and urging the Hong Kong government to end anti-union discrimination.
Union leaders also want their members to authorise the signing of a joint statement with management "signalling the intent of both parties to rebuild a constructive working relationship and to work together to achieve a mutually satisfactory resolution of the outstanding differences that exist".
The memo stresses: "We have not lost sight of our prime objective, which is to obtain fair treatment for the 49ers [the sacked pilots], nor have we forgotten our secondary objectives of `rostering, remuneration and benefits'.
However, it continues: "No Cathay equals no AOA equals no 49ers".
Mr Findlay said the union would move towards further talks with Cathay management on its demands once the Sars crisis was over. "The first thing is to get over the epidemic," he said.
"This motion is a leap of faith. Management has been saying for some time that it wants to see a clear demonstration from the pilots before they will meet with us. We hope this is such a demonstration. Hopefully [it] will be reciprocated in time."
A Cathay spokeswoman said its position on further talks with the pilots' union would not change until the union showed it was genuinely working in the interests of the company.
"That means they have to abandon all their industrial actions, including the recruitment ban, the negative labelling of new recruits and work-to-rule," she said.