Pending salary negotiations, Cathay Pacific cabin crew may go on strike this August…which just happens to be the busiest time for the airline. Cathay is asking the government to step in to mediate the dispute while maintaining communications with the union.
Via the South China Morning Post, the decision to strike was settled upon due to frustrations with contractual differences between the pay for senior and junior crew members. Crew members that signed a permanent contract before April 2 received a pay raise from US$18.67 to $22.81 per flying hour, but junior crew members, who signed a 3-year contract after April 16, only received a pay raise to $20.55. The union is demanding the higher pay raise for all crew members.
My source inside Cathay Pacific says that cabin crew have been dissatisfied with their pay for quite a while. With Cathay Pacific winning awards for their service, crew members feel they deserve monetary recognition. The strike date came after a marathon airport sit-in and public rallies.
If the union does go through with the strike, close to 7,000 flights may be affected during the proposed works stoppage from August 18 to August 31st. Cabin crew of Cathay’s subsidiary Dragonair are not threatening similar action, but union leaders of Cathay warn that they may recruit Dragonair crew members to get onboard with the strike.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
3 comments
Any insight into how this may affect an award booking? I’m scheduled to go FCO > HKG on Aug 18th and then HKG > LAX on Aug 21st. Would AA rebook me if I’m on a US Airways award reservation?
In situations like this—since AA/US issued your ticket—AA should be able to rebook you, just like what would happen during a regular flight cancellation. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that!
[…] reported last week that Cathay Pacific cabin crew were considering going on strike in August pending a salary […]