About 200 China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) employees yesterday said that they opposed the strike launched by the Taoyuan Union of Pilots, at a protest outside the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei.
Protesters also questioned the role of union chairwoman Lee Hsin-yen (李信燕), who is an EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) pilot, saying that she should withdraw from negotiations with airline management, as it involves confidential information.
“I was elected through legal procedures to be the chairwoman of the union, which represents CAL and EVA pilots,” Lee said.
Photo: CNA
“I am simply fulfilling my responsibility as the chairwoman, which is to represent its members,” she said.
The employees who protested did so voluntarily and did not receive any instructions from company management, CAL manager Lee Ching-ting (李晶婷) said.
“The union, on the other hand, searched the Internet to identify pilots who defied its order to go on strike. It should stop cyberbullying and face the public honestly instead,” she said.
Ground staff have been working extra hours to help passengers change their tickets, and many were still working yesterday, so they could not attend the protest, Lee Ching-ting said.
Some of the protestors told the Taipei Times that the pilots should be reasonable in their demands.
Pilots do not seem to realize that their demands would impose a huge financial burden on the airline, they said, adding that the strike would also cause the company to lose passengers.
After a previous strike launched by flight attendants in 2016, the company took about six months to resume normal operations, they said.
Pilots should stop the strike and start working immediately, they added.
Protesters handed a petition to Civil Aeronautics Administration Flight Standards Division Director Clark Lin (林俊良), who accepted the letter for the ministry.
China Airlines Employees’ Union president Liu Hui-tsung (劉惠宗) also attended the rally, although he was rooting for the striking pilots.
Workers should support each other, Liu said, adding that going on strike was the last resort for workers to defend themselves.
Protesters accused Liu of being shameless and using the union’s membership fees for his campaign for the Taoyuan mayoral election last year.
A convenience store clerk in Taoyuan was yesterday allegedly stabbed to death by a customer after asking the customer to wear a mask. The incident occurred a little after 5am at a store on Guangfong Street in Gueishan District (龜山), police said. When the suspect, surnamed Chiang (蔣), 41, entered the store without wearing a mask, the 30-year-old clerk, surnamed Tsai (蔡), asked that he put one on, police said. Chiang exited the store and came back wearing a mask, they said, adding that after paying for his items he took it off and threw it at Tsai before leaving. Chiang returned shortly afterward
‘UNPRECEDENTED’: Taiwan’s envoy said that official wording framing Taiwan-China issues as not about unification or independence counters the narrative Beijing wants Use of the phrase “democratic Taiwan” by Germany’s new coalition government in official document shows that Taiwan-China issues are not about “independence” against “unification,” but about democracy against authoritarianism, Representative to Germany Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) said yesterday. Germany’s Social Democratic Party, Free Democratic Party and the Greens — known as the “traffic light coalition” for their colors — on Wednesday inked a coalition agreement following elections on Sept. 26. The agreement, a blueprint for their governance for the next four years, mentions “Taiwan,” which is unprecedented, showing that the new German government is paying close attention to cross-strait peace and supports Taiwan’s
BIDEN NOD: A China watcher said that the inclusion of Taiwan is notable, as it is the only democratic state on the list that Washington does not officially recognize Minister Without Portfolio Audrey Tang (唐鳳) and Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) are to attend the US-led Summit for Democracy on Dec. 9 and 10, the government said yesterday, after US President Joe Biden announced the list of guests for the virtual event. The US Department of State on Tuesday announced a list of 110 invited participants, including Taiwan, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Japan and the UK. China and Russia were not invited, and Beijing expressed anger at the decision to invite Taiwan. The summit is to revolve around three key themes: Defending against authoritarianism, addressing and fighting
DEFYING PRESSURE: Lithuania said it has the right to expand cooperation with Taiwan, after China downgraded its ties with Vilnius to the ‘charge d’affaires’ level Lithuania yesterday said it “regrets” China’s decision to downgrade diplomatic ties in protest after Taiwan established a de facto embassy in Vilnius. “Lithuania reaffirms its adherence to the ‘one China’ policy, but at the same time has the right to expand cooperation with Taiwan,” including establishing non-diplomatic missions, the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. China has officially downgraded diplomatic ties with Lithuania in protest, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said earlier in the day. In Taipei, the Mainland Affairs Council said it was “rude and unreasonable” for China to interfere in other countries’ affairs and obstruct Taiwan’s normal
RSS