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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Flight attendants stage sit-in over rest time at EVA
EVA Airways flight attendants demonstrate in front of the Evergreen Marine Corp headquarters in Taipei yesterday, when they began a 57-hour sit-in calling for more rest time after long-distance flights. Photo: CNA
By Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter
EVA Airways Corp （EVA, 長榮航空） flight attendants yesterday started a 57-hour sit-in outside Evergreen Marine Corp’s （長榮海運） headquarters in Taipei, demanding more rest time after long-distance flights.
The headquarters was chosen as the site of the protest because it is where flight attendants board shuttle buses to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, flight attendant Lee Ying （李瀅） said, adding that its duration matches their three-day work schedule for round-trip flights from Taoyuan to San Francisco International Airport.
It takes about 11 hours to fly from Taoyuan to San Francisco and about 13 hours and 50 minutes for the return trip, the union said.
Earlier this month, the company shortened the schedule for the route from four or five days to three days without discussing the change with the union, employee representative Tseng Ching-yi （曾競以） said.
While they seem to have about 28 hours to rest, they only have about 12 hours for sleep after deducting time for eating and dealing with other work-related issues, Tseng said, adding that flight attendants have difficulty sleeping due to jet lag.
“We are humans, not machines,” she said, adding that the schedule is one of the company’s six worst for flight attendants.
Attendants are offered one day off before the three-day schedule and three days off after it, but that means they have to spend half of their days off in one week, employee representative Kuo Chih-yan （郭芷嫣） said, adding that they have between nine and 11 days off per month.
The management said the employees’ definition of overwork is lax and only workers who experience a brain hemorrhage could officially be called overworked, Kuo said, citing the management’s statement during a negotiation on Thursday that ended without a consensus.
While the aviation sector is allowed more flexibility in changing work schedules as stipulated in Article 84-1 of the Labor Standards Act （勞動基準法）, employers should not ask flight attendants to work and rest in condensed periods, Lee said.
“The laws only regulate normal work conditions, but do not take into account problems such as jet lag and consecutive work periods,” she said.
Meanwhile, the company issued a statement saying that all work schedules are arranged according to the law, with some conditions that are better than legal standards.
Regarding rest time for the Taoyuan-San Francisco route, attendants have 28 consecutive hours to rest, which is more than the minimum of 20 hours stipulated by the Aircraft Flight Operation Regulations （航空器飛航作業管理規則）, it said.
It is regrettable that the union chose to stage the protest in a place that does not belong to EVA Airways and is troubling the public, the company said, but added that it would not close the door on negotiations with the union.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
