The Taoyuan Union of Pilots yesterday said it has secured the vote to organize a labor strike, adding that it would announce on Aug. 20 when the strike would take place if China Airlines (CAL, 中華航空) and EVA Airways (EVA,長榮航空) continue to refuse to negotiate with it.
The union held a vote from July 16 to Monday, with 1,212 of its 1,426 members participating. A total of 1,187 members voted to go on strike: 731 China Airlines pilots, 454 EVA Airways pilots and 2 from other airlines.
“We hope that this [vote for a strike] would encourage the airlines to improve the work environment for their employees, such as making a definite promise that pilots would not have to risk their lives by flying on typhoon days,” union chairwoman Lee Hsin-yen (李信燕) said. “We are open for negotiations with the airlines before the end of this month.”
Photo: Lee Ya-wen, Taipei Times
The union will resort to a strike if the two carriers continue to ignore and slander the pilots, as well as disregard the safety of passengers, she added.
CAL last week filed an injunction with a district court seeking to ban the union from holding a strike. This shows that the company is playing a two-faced strategy, claiming that it is willing to negotiate with the union while arguing that the union does have not the right to strike, the union said.
The union has the right to hold strikes in accordance with regulations in the Labor Union Act (工會法), it said, adding that the injunction would not affect its plan.
Asked whether the labor strike would disrupt President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) visit to Paraguay next week, as well as people planning to travel during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday next month, Lee said it would depend on whether the airlines are willing to engage in negotiations.
Lee reiterated that members of the public would have sufficient time to react to a strike, but did not specify how many days in advance the public would be given warning.
The union has not decided if CAL and EVA pilots would hold simultaneous strikes or on different days, union board director Chen Hsiang-lin (陳祥麟) said, adding that it would depend on the progress of labor negotiations.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Wu Hong-mo (吳宏謀) expressed hope that the dispute would end peacefully.
“We hope that airlines can expedite communication with their employees on the condition of preserving consumers’ interests and aviation safety to ensure a peaceful end to this dispute,” Wu told a news conference.
China Airlines had been told to refrain from using measures such as court injunctions, which only poison its relations with union members, he added.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said that both airlines, as well as Taoyuan International Airport Corp (桃園國際機場公司), have stipulated contingency plans to cope with the possible impact of a strike during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday from Sept. 22 to Sept. 24.
Negotiations between the airlines and union members in the past few months have helped winnow down the union’s demands to a few unresolved issues, he said, adding that it is the Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ hope that it would not have to implement the plans.
CAL said the union has presented 28 requests to the company, adding that both sides have reached a consensus on some of them.
EVA said the union has presented 16 requests for negotiations.
One of the union’s major complaints was that both airlines have overworked their pilots, particularly those operating long-haul flights.
CAL and EVA follow Aircraft Flight Operation Regulations (航空器飛航作業管理規則) in regulating the flight hours of their pilots, the Civil Aeronautics Administration said.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source