The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled against EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), which had claimed that a 2019 strike by unionized employees was illegal, seeking compensation from the Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union for daily financial losses of NT$34 million (US$1.19 million at the current exchange rate).
Union officials said the ruling was a victory and that the airline should refrain from appealing the decision.
Union members on April 19, 2019, voted to go on strike, after their representatives and the airline could not agree on improved salaries and working conditions.
Photo: CNA
Union members were on strike from June 20 to July 6 that year, when the two sides signed an agreement.
However, EVA Airways’ lawyers filed a lawsuit on the second day of the strike, claiming that it was illegal.
The striking workers breached their employment contracts and the union’s demand that the company’s board must feature at least one labor representative was impossible to fulfill, the lawyers said.
Shareholders elect members to the board, and there is no way for management to intervene, they said.
The court filing cited EVA Airways as saying: “The union’s decision to go on strike seriously affected the company’s reputation and revenues, and led to losses of assets.”
The airline sought compensation for daily financial losses of NT$34 million, based on estimated losses due to a one-day grounding of all EVA Airways flights during Typhoon Nesat on July 30, 2017, the filing showed.
The court ruled that the strike was legal based on the Act for Settlement of Labor-Management Disputes (勞資爭議處理法).
The strike largely disrupted operations and led to financial losses, but the claimant did not provide evidence that the union negotiated in bad faith, the court said.
Eva Airways late yesterday said it would appeal the ruling.
Additional reporting by CNA
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