UPDATED: Cathay Pacific crew threaten Christmas disruption
Cathay Pacific cabin crew are threatening industrial action in a dispute with the airline over pay, although they will not strike over Christmas.
Staff have voted in favour of taking other forms of industrial action over the holiday period, which could lead to strikes in January unless a deal is reached with management.
The Flight Attendant’s Union (FAU) said it may start with work-to-rule measures, which would mean cutting down on some services.
"If they run Cathay Pacific as a low-cost airline, then we will have to conduct a low-cost airline service," said a spokesman for the union.
The FAU said the action could develop to full strikes over the New Year or the February Lunar New Year holiday.
Cathay has said it will only carry on with negotiations if the threat of a strike is removed.
The airline has offered a 2% pay rise but unions are insisting on a 5% increase from next year.
Cathay said it was pleased the FAU had agreed not to stage a strike during the peak travel period over Christmas and New Year.
Chief Executive John Slosar said: "This is good news for our passengers, for all Cathay Pacific staff and for the Hong Kong travelling public."
He added: "Working together as a team to make the airline successful is in everybody’s interest, and I think we should never miss a chance to deliver the very best service to our passengers.
"Aviation has been a difficult business in 2012, and we have tried very hard to explain the challenges we have faced to our staff. In total over the past 3 years even after the 2% awarded this year, most of our staff have received pay increases totalling almost 12%, plus an additional 13th month bonus in each of those 3 years, and I think this is a pretty good result given the performance of our business.
"The Cathay team do a fantastic job so we always try to look after them as best we can. The pay increases we have awarded in recent years show that, when times are good, we share the benefits with the Cathay team."
The airline said it wrote to the FAU at the end of last week inviting them to continue discussions on lifestyle and operational matters, but as yet has not received any response.
General manager cabin crew Liza Ng said: "We are still waiting to hear from them and hope we will soon."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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