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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Strike looms; CAL boss summoned
Tags that read “Ready to strike” in English and Chinese hang from a handbag yesterday. Photo courtesy of the Taoyuan Union of Pilots
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung（林佳龍） has asked China Airlines Ltd （CAL, 中華航空） chairman Ho Nuan-hsuan （何煖軒） to promptly return home from a trip to the US and communicate with Taoyuan Union of Pilots representatives after the union threatened to launch a strike during the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins today.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai （王國材） said in an interview with the Chinese-language Apple Daily that Lin has talked with Ho by telephone.
“This matter would have a huge impact [on air travel] and China Airlines’ management must handle it much more carefully. We also hope that the union can be more patient,” Wang said.
“The minister has already spoken with the union’s representatives and told them that Ho would be back as soon as possible to meet with them, so they can sit down and talk things over,” he said.
The airline and the union last year agreed to keep negotiating 21 unresolved issues for another year, Wang said, adding that the agreement was made possible through the intervention of the Taoyuan City Government and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications （MOTC）.
Only two issues have been resolved so far, he said.
“We hope that [CAL] employees and management consider this matter from the passengers’ perspective. A strike could hurt the passengers and damage the company’s corporate reputation,” Wang said.
“Both sides should quickly return to the negotiating table, as there are still six months before the deadline,” Wang said.
The union on Friday voted to activate the procedures for launching a strike, and accused the airline of breaching the agreement and boycotting negotiations.
However, the airline said that it was the union that rejected the negotiations.
Tensions between the union and CAL escalated yesterday after the union accused the airline of trying to sabotage a strike by calling the pilots and asking them if they were union members and whether they supported launching a strike.
Pilots were also required to present medical documents when taking sick leave between Thursday last week and Monday next week, even if taking just one day off, the union said.
Signing a union declaration would not invalidate a company document that the pilots signed pledging to support the airline in the event of a strike, the union said.
“The company engaged in unfair labor practices. We are gathering all the relevant evidence and considering suing the airline,” union chairwoman Lee Hsin-yen （李信燕） said.
The airline changed the rules on requesting sick leave for fear that union members might take sick leave as a tactic for not showing up to work, she said.
However, the union has the right to launch a strike and its members do not need to ask for leave of absence to participate in labor action, she said.
The Ministry of Labor, the Civil Aeronautics Administration and the MOTC have spoken with the union, but CAL has not, Lee said.
Instead, the company threatened the pilots to prevent them going on strike, she said.
On Saturday, the union sent a text message to its members who are CAL pilots, saying that it would hold several drills in the coming days to prepare them for a strike.
CAL said that the Lunar New Year holiday is a time of family reunions, which people had been looking forward to.
“We hope that the union and the company can work together to help passengers embark on their journeys. We are also willing to continue our negotiations and keep communicating with the union at any time,” the airline said in a statement.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
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