Cathay union vows legal action against salary-cutting contracts

Cathay Pacific’s largest unionised workforce has said it will push ahead with unspecified legal action in an ongoing row over salary-slashing new contracts after winning the overwhelming backing of its flight attendant members at an emergency meeting on Tuesday. The Flight Attendants Union’s move to stave off a fresh round of terminations on the heels of record lay-offs at Hong Kong’s flagship carrier came as one of the city’s largest aviation services firms announced it would be cutting 340 jobs, following Cathay and the wider industry’s lead in shedding costs amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Amber Suen, Flight Attendants Union internal vice-chairwoman, said the group had received legal advice suggesting it had grounds to challenge the airline’s vow to terminate staff, rather than make them redundant, should they refuse to sign much cheaper contracts in the wake of the lay-offs. “They should have given the same package as those who left us on the [21st of October],” she said, referring to the thousands of employees cut loose last month. However, the union said its legal challenge would take much longer than the airline’s looming deadline for signing the new contracts, which comes on Wednesday. “It won’t happen in days,” Suen cautioned. “It might take a longer period of time, but if you’re asking if we’re confident enough, we still have our members’ support and we’re doing everything we can to seek government support, contacting lawmakers to look into [the contract] and raise more awareness, because it doesn’t only affect us.” Some 1,682 members voted in favour of empowering the union to escalate its legal action, with only 10 against and the same number abstaining.<br/>