From SCMP:
Cathay pilots set for Christmas work-to-rule protest as pay row rumbles on
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 06 November, 2014, 3:40pm
Cathay Pacific pilots are set to press ahead with industrial action during the busy Christmas season after union members, disappointed with the level of pay rise offered by the airline, voted overwhelmingly in favour of working to rule.
More than 90 per cent of the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association’s (HKAOA) 1,900 members voted in an online poll which asked if they wanted to press ahead with a work-to-rule protest, according to a letter sent to the members and obtained by the South China Morning Post.
The letter showed that 93 per cent voted in favour of the motion, while 7 per cent voted against it. The result was released on Thursday morning.
The motion did not state when the work-to-rule, or contract compliance, protest would take place. But another letter from the association said that the action “must” commence within 42 calendar days after the result of the vote was announced.
The association’s general secretary Chris Beebe said that the pilots are targeting Christmas to make their point.
“I don’t believe the plan is to drop to contract compliance immediately,” he told the Post on Tuesday, before voting closed. He said then that he expected the motion to be passed.
The protest would involve pilots working according to what their contract requires. For example, pilots would refuse to work on rostered days off.
One source with knowledge of Cathay’s operations said that the impact of a work-to-rule protest on passengers would be “significant”, especially in unexpected situations such as a typhoon, because Cathay did not have enough pilots on standby.
Flight cancellations and delays could be expected if the actions eventually took place, the source said.
Under the airline’s proposal announced in September, Hong Kong-based crew members would get pay increases of 4 per cent this year, 3 per cent next year, and 3 per cent in 2016.
Pilots based in Europe would get a worse deal, with wage increases of 3 per cent, 2 per cent and 3 per cent. Those based in New Zealand would see their pay go up by only 1 per cent each year. Cathay has around 2,900 pilots.
A Cathay spokesman said on Thursday afternoon that the airline had not been informed by the association of the result of the vote but added that “if the results are as suggested, then we are disappointed”.
“We have been in regular communication with the negotiating committee of the HKAOA and look forward to further discussions later this month,” he said.
He also said that the nature of Cathay’s business requires the airline to prepare resources to cover any operational irregularities.
“We will do our best to make sure that we continue to operate our flight services as scheduled,” he added.
A Cathay pilot, who asked not to be named, said on Thursday that the pilots would refuse to work on their days off during a work-to-rule protest.
Other sources said that many pilots, especially the junior ones, were being called in on days off two or three times a month, disturbing their time with friends and family.
The last time Cathay pilots pressed ahead with industrial action was in July 2001, which led to the sacking of 51 pilots. They have become known collectively as the 49ers because 49 were sacked on one day.
Three months into the action in 2001, the association cited an analyst as saying that Cathay had lost HK$800 million as a result. But Tony Tyler, then Cathay’s director of corporate development, said the action had stopped having any effect on passenger numbers or flight delays after three months.