The management of China Airlines (CAL, 中華航空) yesterday reached an agreement with its employees’ union on the union’s eight listed demands in negotiations, averting a potential de facto strike by workers on Friday, CAL chief executive officer Hsieh Shih-chien (謝世謙) said.
Hsieh headed into yesterday’s session to negotiate with representatives of the China Airlines Employees Union, which covers ground staff, pilots, maintenance workers and other China Airlines employees, following objections and heated exchanges between the two sides in the previous day’s talks.
He confirmed having deliberated on the eight demands put forward by the union in the two-day session, and that both sides have signed a formal agreement, but he declined to give any details of the settlement.
Photo: CNA
Some revisions were made to the eight demands, but they were acceptable to the union, according to representatives at the session, which took place at a CAL office building at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
The union representatives agreed to settle and announced that they would cancel the planned labor protest on Friday, which called for members not to show up for work by calling in sick for the day.
The CAL labor dispute centered on working conditions and pay issues, including long-frozen annual seniority-based raises and back pay accrued during the freeze.
“We received in this agreement what CAL had owed us for the past 20 years,” union spokeswoman Wang Chao-jung (王昭蓉) said.
She said that some employees might see “minor differences” between their original demands and those now contained in the agreement, “but this is the result of negotiation. If we insist on getting everything, then there might not be a settlement, and both sides would suffer, which would end up sacrificing the rights of passengers.”
“Right at the start, our union believed the battle should take place during negotiation talks, and should not be fought in the street,” she said, distancing her union from the two-day strike by CAL flight attendants last weekend, which saw sit-in demonstrations in front of the CAL headquarters in Taipei and led to nearly 200 flight cancellations and other kinds of disruptions and headaches for thousands of stranded passengers.
“With solidarity by union members, we can get what we want, and there was no need to hold anyone hostage to reach this agreement,” Wang said.
In their demands, the union had asked that the commuting time of all CAL employees be included in the calculation of their work hours, that the travel allowance for all pilots and cabin crew be raised to US$5 per hour, that the subsidy for ground staff members be increased and that the number of their days off — weekends, holidays and national holidays — be increased from 118 to 123 days.
Other requests included increasing benefits and other remuneration for hourly paid workers, increasing the subsidy for professional certificates and providing accommodation and transportation for employees assigned to work in a foreign country, while maintaining their subsidies.
Previous negotiations between the union and CAL’s new chairman, Ho Nuan-hsuan (何煖軒), had broken down after three rounds of talks on Monday, which led the union to decide that one-third of its members would take leave on Friday.
Additional reporting by CNA
NETWORK-MAPPING PROJECT: The database contains 170 detailed files of Taiwanese politicians and about 23 million records of household registration data in Taiwan China has developed a network-mapping project targeting political figures and parties in Taiwan to monitor public opinion during elections and to craft tailored influence campaigns aimed at dividing Taiwanese society, according to documents leaked by Chinese technology firm GoLaxy (中科天璣). The documents, collected by Taipei-based Doublethink Lab, showed a database was specifically created to gather detailed information on Taiwanese political figures, including their political affiliations, job histories, birthplaces, residences, education, religion and a brief biography about them. Several notable Taiwanese politicians are in the database, including President William Lai (賴清德), former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍),
KEY INDUSTRY: The vice premier discussed a plan to create a non-red drone supply chain by next year, which has been allocated a budget of more than NT$7.2 billion The government has budgeted NT$44.2 billion (US$1.38 billion) to cultivate Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) industry over the next five years, which would make the nation a major player in the industry’s democratic supply chain in the Asia-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Cho made the remarks during a visit to the facilities of Cub Elecparts Inc (為升電裝). Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong (謝依鳳) also participated in the trip. Cub Elecparts has transitioned from the automotive industry to the defense industry, which is the top priority among the nation’s
UPGRADED MISSILE: The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology is reportedly to conduct a live-fire test of the Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile on Thursday next week The US Army is planning to build new facilities to boost explosives production and strengthen its supply chain, a move aimed at addressing munitions shortages and supporting obligations to partners including Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel, Defense News reported. The army has issued a sources sought notice for a proposed Center of Excellence at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, the report said. The facility would serve as a hub within the US industrial base for the production of key military explosives, including research department explosives (RDX) and high melting explosives (HMX), while also supporting research and development of next-generation materials. The proposed
SOUTH KOREA DISPUTE: If Seoul continues to ignore its request, Taiwan would change South Korea’s designation on its arrival cards, the foreign ministry said If South Korea does not reply appropriately to a request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, the government would take corresponding measures to change how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. Taipei has asked Seoul to change the wording. Since March 1, South Koreans who hold government-issued Alien Resident Certificates (ARC) have been identified as from “South Korea” rather than the “Republic of Korea,” the
RSS