EVA Airways Corp flight attendants would not go on strike during the June 7 to 9 Dragon Boat Festival holiday weekend, the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union (TFAU) pledged yesterday.
The union has extended an olive branch by promising not to disrupt holiday travel, saying that it hoped the move would bring EVA chairman Lin Bou-shiu (林寶水) back to the negotiating table to seek solutions to disputes between labor and management, said Liao Yi-chin (廖以勤), a member of the union’s board of directors.
The union is looking forward to reopening negotiations with the company on Friday next week, after the last round of talks broke down on April 17, prompting a strike vote that began on Monday and runs through June 6, Liao said.
Photo: Chou Min-hung, Taipei Times
The union is optimistic that the strike vote will pass, as more than 1,000 EVA flight attendants have already cast their ballots, Liao said.
EVA said in a statement that it recognizes the union’s goodwill, and would restart negotiations with it as requested.
It would come up with solutions that could meet its needs and those of its employees, shareholders and passengers, the airline said.
Two thresholds would have to be met for the vote to pass.
The first is approval of more than half of the union’s 5,930 or so members from EVA, China Airlines and other carriers.
The second is that any strike vote must be approved by at least 80 percent of its 3,280 or so EVA members.
The EVA members, who account for 75 percent of the airline’s flight attendants, can cast their ballots through Sunday next week, the union said.
China Airlines flight attendant members are scheduled to vote between May 27 and June 6.
Union members from other airlines are to vote from June 3 to June 6.
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