If you’re currently rubbing your hands together with glee at the thought of escaping Hong Kong’s dreary weather on a Cathay Pacific flight sometime soon, you might want to stop doing that.
Firstly, you probably look pretty weird. And secondly, the whole crew for your plane is probably sat on the floor at the airport right now.
Hundreds of flight attendants last night launched a marathon sit-in at Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok Airport to protest against issues relating to pay, lunch money and legal protection.
The Flight Attendants Union initially said it would escalate action and implement a work-to-rule system throughout August if management does not meet for talks by tomorrow morning.
Cathay says it’s ready to talk.
The flight attendants are unhappy that, for some, the hourly pay of HKD144.70 is set to only go up to HKD159.30 instead of the HKD176.80 offered to those who signed their contracts earlier.
According to the SCMP, Maggie Yeung, general manager of cabin crew for the airline, said at the airport, “They are getting a 10 per cent raise for performing the same duties. It is quite a desirable arrangement.”
The union is also peeved that lunch allowances for attendants in Melbourne will go down from AUD60 (HKD372) to AUD35 (HKD217), which Cathy claims is due to changes in menus and prices in Melbourne.
Finally, the airport occupiers want the airline to reinstate a clause in its operational manual that assures Cathay will “cover all legal costs resulting from an incident occurring whilst on duty”.
This issue, Cathay says, is a simple misunderstanding. The clause has apparently been removed so it can be improved.
“We will not rule out pressing ahead with a work-to-rule action or a strike,” union chairwoman Dora Lai said. “We are targeting August… If members of the public are planning trips around that time, we advise them to adjust their itineraries.”
There you go. Simple. Just “adjust your itinerary”.
