EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) yesterday filed a lawsuit at the Taipei District Court against the Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union, saying that the union had contravened the Act for Settlement of Labor-Management Disputes (勞資爭議處理法).
The union secured the right to hold a strike after 4,038 members, of whom 2,949 were EVA attendants, on June 7 voted in favor of industrial action, meeting the two thresholds of more than 50 percent of union members and 80 percent of EVA members.
However, EVA said that the union might have breached the act, as it said one of the reasons it launched the strike was the airline’s rejection of its request to employ a labor director, EVA head of legal affairs Morris Hsu (許惠森) told the Taipei Times by telephone.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
According to articles 5 and 53 of the act, a strike is only permitted for disputes regarding maintaining or changing the terms and conditions of employment, Hsu said.
“To put it bluntly, workers are allowed to strike if labor and management cannot resolve disputes relating to changes in employees’ paychecks or working hours. However, whether EVA has a labor director has nothing to do with either,” Hsu said.
During the negotiations, the union had asked the company to invite employees to participate in corporate governance and to appoint a labor director, Hsu said.
Photo: CNA
However, listed companies cannot appoint or “set up” a director, as any appointment needs to be approved by shareholders, Hsu said.
Only state-owned companies have labor directors under the Administrative Act of State-Owned Enterprises (國營事業管理法), Hsu said.
A few privately owned companies have a director recommended by their labor union, but the Civil Aviation Act (民用航空法) requires airlines with paid-in capital of NT$2 billion (US$64.2 million) or more to have independent directors in charge of public welfare issues, Hsu said.
As of press time last night, the airline said that today it would have to cancel 59 outbound flights and 53 inbound flights, which would affect 23,200 passengers.
Meanwhile, four EVA Airways employees headed by a woman surnamed Chou (周) filed a lawsuit against Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union executives at the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday afternoon.
Accompanied by a lawyer, the employees filed a lawsuit against union executives, alleging there had been confrontations during the strike which had breached the law.
“They started the strike on Thursday with a sit-in, where they blocked the front entrance of EVA Airways headquarters,” Chou said, adding that it took her an extra two hours to depart the office by using another exit and walking along a narrow path, which had posed a danger to employees.
“The strike and the confrontations have infringed on the rights and freedom of employees,” Chou added. “The flight attendants should count their blessings, instead of making unreasonable demands.”
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow yesterday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces.” The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head
SAFETY FIRST: Double the number of police were deployed at the Taipei Marathon, while other cities released plans to bolster public event safety Authorities across Taiwan have stepped up security measures ahead of Christmas and New Year events, following a knife and smoke bomb attack in Taipei on Friday that left four people dead and 11 injured. In a bid to prevent potential copycat incidents, police deployments have been expanded for large gatherings, transport hubs, and other crowded public spaces, according to official statements from police and city authorities. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city has “comprehensively raised security readiness” in crowded areas, increased police deployments with armed officers, and intensified patrols during weekends and nighttime hours. For large-scale events, security checkpoints and explosives
PUBLIC SAFETY: The premier said that security would be tightened in transport hubs, while President Lai commended the public for their bravery The government is to deploy more police, including rapid response units, in crowded public areas to ensure a swift response to any threats, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after a knife attack killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei the previous day. Lai made the remarks following a briefing by the National Police Agency on the progress of the investigation, saying that the attack underscored the importance of cooperation in public security between the central and local governments. The attack unfolded in the early evening on Friday around Taipei Main Station’s M7 exit and later near the Taipei MRT’s Zhongshan
REBUFFED: In response to Chinese criticism over recent arms sales, Washington urged Beijing to engage in meaningful dialogue instead of threats and intimidation Washington’s long-term commitment to Taiwan would not change, the US Department of State said yesterday, urging Beijing to stop pressuring Taiwan and engage in meaningful bilateral dialogues. The remarks came in response to a backlash from Beijing about Washington’s latest approval of arms sales to Taiwan. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement on Wednesday that the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US has asked to purchase an arms package, including Tactical Mission Network Software; AH-1W helicopter spare and repair parts; M109A7 self-propelled howitzers; HIMARS long range precision strike systems; tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided missiles; Javelin
RSS