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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Union votes in favor of EVA strike
Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union members yesterday in Taipei count votes on whether to launch a strike. Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
‘ANY MOMENT NOW’: The airline said it would prepare to limit the effects of a strike on passengers, while the ministry formed a task force to deal with disruptions
By Hsiao Yu-hsin, Cheng Wei-chi and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writer and CNA
Members of the Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union have voted in favor of going on strike against EVA Airways Corp （長榮航空） over work hour and overseas pay issues, the union announced yesterday, but it did not say if and when a strike would actually take place.
“We may go on a strike at any moment from now on, given that we have obtained the legal right to do so,” union secretary-general Cheng Ya-ling （鄭雅菱） said, urging EVA Air to recognize the determination of its flight attendants.
Cheng put the onus for a strike on the airline, saying that whether one takes place would depend on if the carrier is willing to improve working conditions for its flight attendants.
The union has a total of 5,933 members from EVA Air, Taiwan’s other major international carrier, China Airlines, and other smaller carriers.
In the vote conducted from May 13 to Thursday, 4,038 members voted in favor of a strike, far exceeding the backing of more than 50 percent of members required by law for a strike vote to pass.
The union also voluntarily set a second threshold to address concerns that the vote could be manipulated by non-EVA Air workers, requiring that any vote to strike must be approved by at least 80 percent of its EVA Air members.
That threshold was also met, as 2,949 of the union’s 3,276 EVA Air members, or 90 percent, voted in favor of a strike.
The strike approval came in the wake of unsuccessful negotiations with management over overseas allowances and work hours on regional round trips.
The union has demanded that the airline raise flight attendants’ allowances when working in overseas destinations from NT$90 to NT$150 per hour per flight and that the treatment be limited to only union members.
It has also called on EVA Air to allow flight attendants working any of nine regional round-trip routes to work only one way and rest overnight, rather than working both legs of the flight on the same day.
The flight duty period on those nine routes often exceeds 12 hours when both legs of the round trip are worked, the maximum work hours allowed in a single shift under the Labor Standards Act （勞動基準法）, the union said.
The routes cited as meeting that criteria included flights connecting Taiwan with Tokyo, Beijing, Phnom Penh, Ho Chi Minh City, China’s Harbin and Shenyang, and Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia.
EVA Airways yesterday expressed regret over the strike vote, saying that it would make necessary preparations to limit the effects on passengers if it takes place.
“We remain willing to negotiate with the union. Both sides should seek to resolve their differences in a reasonable way,” EVA said in a statement.
The airline has asked the union to negotiate after its shareholders’ meeting on June 25, it said.
EVA would help transfer any affected passengers to other carriers, help arrange flight schedules and publish clear information, it added.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai （王國材） said that the Ministry of Transportation and Communications has established a task force due to the union obtaining permission to strike.
The task force is comprised of four divisions: customer service and flight rerouting; on-site services; tourism and travel affairs; and employer-employee mediation, he said, adding that it would assemble at a designated response center immediately if the union announces the commencement of a strike.
The ministry has also asked the Tourism Bureau to look into bookings made by travelers with EVA Air over the summer vacation period, Wang said, adding that it has also informed travel agencies to be ready to transfer clients to other airlines should the need arise.
The Civil Aeronautics Administration has estimated that EVA Air’s transport capacity accounts for 24 percent of the nation’s international flights over the summer vacation period, with 37,000 passengers per day on international routes and 13,000 on domestic flights.
While China Airlines has been asked to stand by with increased flights should there be a strike, it would be difficult to move passengers to other airlines and allow them to arrive at their destination as scheduled, Wang said.
The ministry has demanded that EVA Air service routes that are indispensable, such as flights to Matsu, he said.
Kainan University Department of Air Transportation professor Alex Lu （盧衍樑） said that any announcements made ahead of time should include the actual time of the strike and which flights would be affected.
Only with such information could travelers react accordingly, he said.
“To put it bluntly, the union is treating passengers like hostages, sacrificing their ease of travel as a means to an end,” Lu said.
While revealing the date would not completely alleviate effects of the strike, it would mitigate such effects, he said.
Without such information, travelers could wake up only to find their planned flight canceled and left with no alternative plans, Lu said, adding that employer-employee differences should not affect passengers.
Additional reporting by Kao Shih-ching
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
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