The Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union yesterday urged China Airlines to replace chairman Ho Nuan-hsuan (何煖軒) and deliver on its promises to the Taoyuan Union of Pilots as the pilots’ strike entered its seventh day.
The company has been managing its employees in a relentless and dishonest manner, having gone back on its promises multiple times, the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union said in a statement.
To improve the company’s management, Ho should be replaced, it said.
“The airline’s upper management should show their integrity by meeting agreements made with the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union three years ago, as well as their promises to the Taoyuan Union of Pilots, and stop retaliating against union members,” the statement said.
Since last year, the company has been fined by the Ministry of Labor more than 10 times for retaliating against union members and interfering with union affairs, it said.
China Airlines flight attendants on June 24, 2016, launched a three-day strike after the company decided that many flight attendants should report to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, instead of Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), which would have significantly reduced their rest time between shifts.
The strike forced the company to agree to seven demands by the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union, including allowing fight attendants to report to their original work location and raising union members’ overseas allowances.
However, of the seven agreements, China Airlines has so far gone back on four of them, the statement said.
For example, the company raised the overseas allowance for all flight attendants, including those who are not members of the union, but refused to give union representatives leave when they needed to handle union affairs, it said.
“China Airlines blatantly disregarded its promises to the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union in 2016, even though it signed a formal agreement with it in front of officials from the Ministry of Labor,” the statement said.
The Taoyuan Union of Pilots needs to be aware of the company’s track record and not fall for the same trap, it said.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai’s (王國材) remark yesterday that words said during negotiations are not legally binding suggests the government would support the airline if it refused to carry out its promises, the statement said.
The Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union supports the pilots’ strike and would “wage another war” against the company if they must do so to protect members’ rights, it said.
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