SweepTheLeg
28th Oct 2010, 23:06
It's begun... the first warning shot has been fired...
Holiday fear as pilots threaten to work to rule
Cathay union seeks 30pc pay rise over three years
Simon Parry
Oct 29, 2010
Cathay Pacific (SEHK: 0293) pilots are threatening to impose a work to rule that could disrupt flights in the run-up to Christmas and the Lunar New Year holidays unless management yields to their demand for pay rises averaging 30 per cent over the next three years.
The Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association (AOA) will poll its 1,600 members from next week on whether to authorise the union to declare contract compliance, where pilots refuse to work beyond rostered duties.
The campaign - which could cause flight delays and cancellations - would be the first of its kind since the tactic was used during a bitter 2001 dispute over pay and conditions, triggering the sacking of a group of pilots known as the 49ers.
Cathay Pacific said it was disappointed by the move, which it said would cause undue anxiety among employees during delicate continuing pay negotiations.
A yes vote from pilots would not trigger automatic contract compliance but would give association officials the ability to invoke it at any time they see fit during continuing pay talks with management. The poll is expected to take weeks to complete.
Union leaders say pilots are angry and frustrated that they have had only one nominal pay rise since 2002 - in 2008 - and say their salaries have fallen behind those of pilots in other major international airlines.
They are asking for a pay rise averaging more than 30 per cent over a four-year period, backdated to January this year, including "catch-up" increases and annual guaranteed rises at set percentages until 2013.
Cathay pilots on the common B-scale pay system earn between HK$33,179 a month for a newly recruited second officer to HK$144,000 for a captain with 19 years' service.
Expatriate pilots, who make up just under half of Cathay's 2,500 pilots, also receive housing allowances ranging from HK$24,000 to about HK$60,000 and have 75 per cent of overseas school fees paid.
John Findlay, the union's assistant general secretary, said it decided to put the contract compliance motion to members in response to a more aggressive motion from two members calling for a contract compliance campaign beginning on December 1.
Pilots believed the company was deliberately "dragging out" pay negotiations, said Findlay, who is currently overseas with union officials in separate pay talks on behalf of Cathay pilots based in Canada and Australia.
"The feeling among the guys is that this has gone on for far too long now," he said. "The company has been making enormous profits and will make enormous profits this year, and yet they are just not prepared to properly remunerate their pilots."
Asked how he thought people would react to the pay claim, Findlay said: "It may sound a lot of money but we are looking at a period of over 10 years during which the company has given very little in the way of pay rises and yet during that period the company has been very, very successful."
Findlay said the association had presented detailed data to the airline in 2007 showing how the pay of Cathay pilots had fallen behind that of pilots with other major international airlines, but management had disregarded the findings.
"The company likes to compare itself with other major international airlines. That's exactly what we have done in our exercise of comparison and yet the company seems to have a problem remunerating pilots on that basis," he said.
The association has told its members in circulars that contract compliance is likely to have a greater effect now than in previous years because of the extent to which the airline relies on calling in pilots to work on their days off.
"[The proposed action] is just to demonstrate to the company that the pilots are fed up and goodwill is a two-way process and many of the pilots feel the goodwill is only being shown one way - from the pilots to the company," Findlay said.
"In Hong Kong, contract compliance is not industrial action. Pilots will adhere to the terms and conditions under which they are employed... Pilots are often asked to work on their days off because there is, in our belief, a shortage of pilots within Cathay. We don't believe the airline is manned up properly. Pilots recovering from jetlag after long-haul flights get phoned up at home and asked if they can help out."
Responding to a question about whether contract compliance, if invoked, would lead to delays or cancellations, he said: "That wouldn't be the intention but if that were the result, it wouldn't be the pilots' fault.
"It will just stretch Cathay's crew control to make sure that all flights are properly manned. At the moment, they do rely on people helping out, and if people are not helping out it may impact."
Cathay declined to say what effect contract compliance might have or what action, if any, management might take in response.
Pilots were sacked en masse when contract compliance was used during a 2001 dispute over pay and conditions, leading to the case of the so-called 49ers, some of whom won millions of Hong Kong dollars in unfair dismissal claims last year.
A Cathay spokeswoman said: "We are disappointed that the AOA feels it is timely or appropriate to bring forward such a motion which only raises undue anxiety levels among our crew, especially at an early stage of complex tripartite discussions with the Hong Kong, Australian and Canadian chapters of the AOA.
"We understand that the recommended motion has only been brought to forestall further, more aggressive motions that may otherwise eventuate. The company is expecting to make a record profit this year, some of which will be shared with all eligible staff in the form of 13th month discretionary bonuses and a further payment of profit share."
Holiday fear as pilots threaten to work to rule
Cathay union seeks 30pc pay rise over three years
Simon Parry
Oct 29, 2010
Cathay Pacific (SEHK: 0293) pilots are threatening to impose a work to rule that could disrupt flights in the run-up to Christmas and the Lunar New Year holidays unless management yields to their demand for pay rises averaging 30 per cent over the next three years.
The Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association (AOA) will poll its 1,600 members from next week on whether to authorise the union to declare contract compliance, where pilots refuse to work beyond rostered duties.
The campaign - which could cause flight delays and cancellations - would be the first of its kind since the tactic was used during a bitter 2001 dispute over pay and conditions, triggering the sacking of a group of pilots known as the 49ers.
Cathay Pacific said it was disappointed by the move, which it said would cause undue anxiety among employees during delicate continuing pay negotiations.
A yes vote from pilots would not trigger automatic contract compliance but would give association officials the ability to invoke it at any time they see fit during continuing pay talks with management. The poll is expected to take weeks to complete.
Union leaders say pilots are angry and frustrated that they have had only one nominal pay rise since 2002 - in 2008 - and say their salaries have fallen behind those of pilots in other major international airlines.
They are asking for a pay rise averaging more than 30 per cent over a four-year period, backdated to January this year, including "catch-up" increases and annual guaranteed rises at set percentages until 2013.
Cathay pilots on the common B-scale pay system earn between HK$33,179 a month for a newly recruited second officer to HK$144,000 for a captain with 19 years' service.
Expatriate pilots, who make up just under half of Cathay's 2,500 pilots, also receive housing allowances ranging from HK$24,000 to about HK$60,000 and have 75 per cent of overseas school fees paid.
John Findlay, the union's assistant general secretary, said it decided to put the contract compliance motion to members in response to a more aggressive motion from two members calling for a contract compliance campaign beginning on December 1.
Pilots believed the company was deliberately "dragging out" pay negotiations, said Findlay, who is currently overseas with union officials in separate pay talks on behalf of Cathay pilots based in Canada and Australia.
"The feeling among the guys is that this has gone on for far too long now," he said. "The company has been making enormous profits and will make enormous profits this year, and yet they are just not prepared to properly remunerate their pilots."
Asked how he thought people would react to the pay claim, Findlay said: "It may sound a lot of money but we are looking at a period of over 10 years during which the company has given very little in the way of pay rises and yet during that period the company has been very, very successful."
Findlay said the association had presented detailed data to the airline in 2007 showing how the pay of Cathay pilots had fallen behind that of pilots with other major international airlines, but management had disregarded the findings.
"The company likes to compare itself with other major international airlines. That's exactly what we have done in our exercise of comparison and yet the company seems to have a problem remunerating pilots on that basis," he said.
The association has told its members in circulars that contract compliance is likely to have a greater effect now than in previous years because of the extent to which the airline relies on calling in pilots to work on their days off.
"[The proposed action] is just to demonstrate to the company that the pilots are fed up and goodwill is a two-way process and many of the pilots feel the goodwill is only being shown one way - from the pilots to the company," Findlay said.
"In Hong Kong, contract compliance is not industrial action. Pilots will adhere to the terms and conditions under which they are employed... Pilots are often asked to work on their days off because there is, in our belief, a shortage of pilots within Cathay. We don't believe the airline is manned up properly. Pilots recovering from jetlag after long-haul flights get phoned up at home and asked if they can help out."
Responding to a question about whether contract compliance, if invoked, would lead to delays or cancellations, he said: "That wouldn't be the intention but if that were the result, it wouldn't be the pilots' fault.
"It will just stretch Cathay's crew control to make sure that all flights are properly manned. At the moment, they do rely on people helping out, and if people are not helping out it may impact."
Cathay declined to say what effect contract compliance might have or what action, if any, management might take in response.
Pilots were sacked en masse when contract compliance was used during a 2001 dispute over pay and conditions, leading to the case of the so-called 49ers, some of whom won millions of Hong Kong dollars in unfair dismissal claims last year.
A Cathay spokeswoman said: "We are disappointed that the AOA feels it is timely or appropriate to bring forward such a motion which only raises undue anxiety levels among our crew, especially at an early stage of complex tripartite discussions with the Hong Kong, Australian and Canadian chapters of the AOA.
"We understand that the recommended motion has only been brought to forestall further, more aggressive motions that may otherwise eventuate. The company is expecting to make a record profit this year, some of which will be shared with all eligible staff in the form of 13th month discretionary bonuses and a further payment of profit share."