The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union yesterday insisted that 24 EVA Airways flight attendants who joined the strike on June 20 not be punished for being absent without leave (AWOL).
The flight attendants had informed their manager of their plan to join the strike in advance and had originally been marked as being on strike, before the company later changed their status to absent without leave, union secretary-general Cheng Ya-ling (鄭雅菱) told a news conference in Taipei.
Shortly before leaving work for the strike, four were undergoing training and 20 were awaiting boarding, the union said.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
None of the flight attendants left work before the strike began, delayed boarding or walked away from passengers who had already boarded, she said.
One of the flight attendants did not sign off from duty until 4:05pm, five minutes after the strike began, and the company marked her as “on strike” at 4:45pm, union representative Huang Man-ling (黃蔓鈴) said.
Her flight, BR722 to Shanghai, did not arrive at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport until 3:20pm and when the flight attendant left at 4:10pm, no new passengers had boarded the plane, Huang said.
“Accusations about flight attendants walking away from boarded passengers, undermining flight safety and avoiding boarding are all untrue and meant to make the strike appear unjustified,” she said.
Flight attendants can refuse to work after the union launches a legal strike, union deputy secretary Chou Sheng-kai (周聖凱) told reporters in Taoyuan.
“That it is legal should be without dispute,” he said.
Regarding today’s meeting with the airline’s upper management, Chou expressed hope that the company will agree not to discipline members who joined the strike and not reduce their benefits.
Union representative Lin Yu-chia (林昱嘉) said the union also hopes that company chairman Steve Lin (林寶水) and president Clay Sun (孫嘉明) will attend the meeting.
Negotiations on Saturday broke down partly because the company representatives were not top executives and were not authorized to make key decisions on the spot, she said.
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
RSS