A summer strike threatened by flight attendants at Hong Kong’s flag carrier Cathay Pacific has been called off after an agreement with management following two days of negotiations.
The Cathay Pacific Airways Flight Attendants Union announced the two-week strike for August after a two-day sit-in last week at the city’s Chek Lap Kok airport failed to win concessions.
Workers kicked off their action after Cathay cut wages and changed working conditions.
The new moves meant that crew who joined after April 16 saw their pay rise to HKD159.40 (USD20.56) an hour after their first three years, down from HKD176.80.
The airline also cut lunch allowances for attendants flying through Melbourne, while the union said it had also removed a legal protection clause from its operational manual.
However, Cathay said in a statement yesterday that discussions this week were “constructive” and produced a “memorandum of understanding” between the two parties.
“The memorandum that has been signed today was made possible because all parties entered into these discussions in good faith,” the statement added.
Details of the agreement have not yet been made public.
News footage from Now Television News showed representatives from both sides shaking hands to the sound of applause.
“We will put our [strike] preparation on hold,” Dora Lai, head of the union, told reporters.
“The result is a big improvement,” added Lai, who had said last week that 6,400 union members could be mobilised for the summer strike if the company did not listen to their demands.
In 2012, the union threatened industrial action that would see flight attendants stop smiling and refuse to serve alcohol after a proposed pay rise fell short of their demands. It called the action off after the company pledged better terms.
Cathay shares were down 1.2 percent at HKD20.05 (USD2.59) in morning trading today.
Words: AFP
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