In the past three years China Airlines (CAL) employees have held two strikes. In the most recent bout of industrial action, strikers initially attempted to win over public support by framing the strike action as an appeal to concerns over aviation safety. However, their decision to hold the strike during the Lunar New Year holiday peak travel period and choosing to announce the strike in the middle of the night, giving the public only 6 hours’ prior warning, meant that many travelers, in addition to many within the travel industry, were left high and dry. While it is the legal right of workers to hold a strike to fight for their rights, communications and transportation is one of several industries whose uninterrupted operation is in the public interest. As such, it is not just a question of salary disputes and workers’ rights; it also touches upon whether it is right to use travelers as bargaining chips in the process.
The first time CAL encountered a strike was in June 2016, just after President Tsai Ing-wen had assumed office and the airline’s management was about to embark upon a reorganization. Caught off guard by striking cabin crew, both the government and the airline capitulated to almost all the cabin crews’ demands. This time, the airline’s pilots decided to go on strike on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, again catching the airline’s management unawares with a surprise picket, in doing so initiating a debate over whether it should be mandatory for workers to give a strike notification period. Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun had reservations, believing it could impede worker’s rights, while the cabinet, worried about starting a new political fight, initially ruled out amending the law.
If CAL were a normal business, few would be scrutinizing the demands of its workers and management’s response. Since CAL operates within the transport and communications sector under license and performs a public service, when disputes between its workers and management occur, the public interest should not be pushed to one side.
Photo: Peter Lo, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者羅沛德
It is for this reason that many countries require airlines and other public service providers to implement a strike notification period, which has the duel benefit of upholding worker’s rights while also mitigating the impact of strike action on consumers. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Labor seemed to be purely concerned with labor rights, while the cabinet was focused solely upon the political ramifications.
Moreover, having been through two instances of industrial action, in addition to suffering an enormous loss of revenue, the damage to the airline’s reputation will be more difficult to quantify. While internationally there have been instances of airlines going bankrupt due to strike action, CAL is part public owned, with approximately 50 percent of its shares owned by government. As such, it is highly unlikely that the government would allow the company to go bust, and why it has been reticent in its approach to dealing with the strike: this may well be the reason the airline’s employees have felt emboldened enough to hold repeated strikes. The government needs to consider whether the airline’s operational structure is fit for purpose.
(Translated by Edward Jones, Taipei Times)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
照片:維基共享資源
華航三年內發動兩次罷工,這次罷工以「飛安」為訴求,原本可以爭取更多社會大眾支持,但選在春節連假航運尖峰期間罷工,且從宣布到實施只有六小時,還是在半夜宣布,讓許多旅客及旅行業者應變不及。儘管罷工是勞方爭取權益的合法手段之一,但交通運輸事業等涉及公共利益,不是單純的勞資爭議或勞工權益問題,這也牽涉到一個問題,就是旅客是否應被當成談判的籌碼。
華航首次罷工發生在二○一六年六月,當時空服員罷工選在蔡政府甫上任、華航高層即將改組之際,被「突襲」的政府與華航,幾乎全盤接受空服員訴求;這次機師罷工選在大年初四,再次突襲式罷工,引發是否應有「罷工預告期」的討論。對此,勞動部長許銘春持保留態度,認為會對勞動權設下更多障礙;行政院則擔心「另闢戰場」,也暫不考慮修法。
其實,華航若是一般事業,勞方要如何爭取勞動權、資方要如何因應罷工,外人無從也無須置喙。然而,華航經營交通運輸,屬於特許事業,涉及公共服務,勞資雙方的爭端,不能犧牲大眾利益。
因此許多國家都對航空等公共服務訂定「罷工預告期」,就是希望維護勞動權的同時,能夠盡量降低對消費者的衝擊。遺憾的是,目前勞動部只關心勞動權,行政院則考量政治效應。
此外,華航歷經二次罷工,除了鉅額的營收損失,商譽損失更難以估算,國際上雖有航空公司因為罷工事件而倒閉的案例,但華航是公股事業,泛公股占近五成,政府不太可能讓華航倒閉,處理罷工事件也有不少顧忌,或許也是華航員工敢於一再罷工的原因;但是,這樣的經營結構是好是壞,恐怕政府也要好好思考。
(自由時報記者鄭琪芳)
Industrial action
Industrial action, also called a strike, is when workers stop working en-masse in response to grievances. While there is evidence that strikes took place in Ancient Egypt and Ancient Rome, industrial action only became common during the Industrial Revolution, when mass labor powered the factories, mines and mills of industrializing countries.
Strike action usually takes place through labor unions via a process called collective bargaining, where the employer and the union’s representatives attempt to reach an agreement on wages, benefits and working conditions. Strike action usually only occurs as a last resort, when negotiations between the parties have broken down.
A wildcat strike, also known as unofficial industrial action, refers to union members going on strike without the authorization or approval of their union.
(Edward Jones, Taipei Times)
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