The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union yesterday vowed to protest at the EVA Air Marathon on Sunday next week should EVA Airway Corp’s management continue to ignore the union’s petition to change rules on employees’ leave of absence system, after a flight attendant reportedly died after working on a long-haul flight while ill.
The case has generated public discussion over whether taking personal or sick leave should affect a worker’s performance review.
Several union members yesterday protested at the Legislative Yuan, holding white flowers and placards, while shouting: “Life is priceless; requesting leave is not a crime.”
Photo: Liao Chen-hui, Taipei Times
“The union is scheduled to meet with EVA Airways at 2pm on Tuesday next week. We have given the company our proposal for changes in the flight attendants’ leave of absence system and shift schedules, and it should assign a corporate executive who is authorized to make final decisions to negotiate with union representatives,” the union said in a statement.
Flight attendants who are free that day are welcome to attend to show support for their representatives, it added.
“If the airline’s management continues to stay hidden or has no intention to propose solutions, the Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union and EVA Airway’s corporate union would escalate the conflict by protesting at the EVA Air Marathon on Sunday next week, where company chairman Lin Bou-shiu (林寶水) and president Sun Chia-ming (孫嘉明), and hundreds of EVA Airways workers are to be present,” the union said.
“We would then hand Lin and Sun our petition and ask them to tell us, as well as the public, what they will do to solve the problem,” it said.
The union has presented its appeals, including prohibiting the airline from discriminating against employees who request sick leave, protecting employees’ right to request time off during natural disaster, ensuring annual paid leave and listing practices of unfavorable treatment to employees requesting leave.
EVA Airways flight attendant Lee Yi-han (李亦涵) said that cabin crew are penalized in a point system when they take sick leave: One point is deducted for taking sick leave on a weekday, two for weekends or public holidays, and three for requesting leave on New Year’s Eve or Lunar New Year.
If a crew member takes more than four days of emergency leave, they lose the right to apply for preferred flight routes or days off, she said.
If a flight attendant applies for emergency leave during consecutive holidays or peak seasons, their roster would be locked, meaning they cannot make any schedule changes, Lee said.
Attendants are also expected to not fall ill on rescheduled workdays, because taking sick leave on a shift that was swapped or reassigned results in the crew member’s roster being locked, preventing any further schedule adjustments, she said.
If someone falls seriously ill, is hospitalized or requires surgery, not only would their performance evaluation be affected, but their year-end bonus and travel benefits would be deducted.
EVA Airways had said that it would promptly investigate and clarify the situation.
The results of a Taoyuan Labor Inspection Office inspection showed that the working hours and shift intervals of the flight attendant who died were in compliance with the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法).
EVA Airways said it did not reject cabin crew members’ leave requests, although it acknowledged that certain types of leave might impact individual performance evaluations.
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