Acepilothk99

It seems like cabin crew are preparing for a strike over the christmas holidays & new year. They won't have any support from the company unless pilots join in which will effectively impact operations. What are your thoughts?

Uplinker

I don't know the specific company, but in a company I flew for I remember our No. 1 telling us that her 9 year old son burst into tears when he saw Mummy dressed in her uniform at 0600 on Christmas Day, because he knew that once again, Mummy would not be there on the big day.

I don't know why air crews put up with flying over Christmas, and we never got any compensation at all for doing so, yet in other industries you would be talking double or triple pay for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing day, ditto for New Year. It is not essential to fly on those days. Do the CEOs and managers work over Christmas.......?

My pilot colleagues whom I tried to speak to about this said "well it's what you signed up for", so I gave up since there was clearly no appetite for doing anything about it.

Good on these crews, I wish them well.

Rie

Not defending the fact that people have to be away from families but with most airlines the "extra pay" received for Christmas is normally in Annual Leave. Being a shift worker means extra annual leave over the normal 9-5 workers.

Not quite the case for SO's and FO1 but onwards that is the case.

8driver

I don't think they are striking over having to work holidays, but I'm no longer there so I don't know. I assume the strike is over the company's constant degrading of terms and conditions. The holidays are when you hit them, not that they have the pilot staff to fly most of the passenger jets anyway having run most of us off.

HKJunkie

Not sure this is the right place for this, yet it was on another blog
Quote:
As part of its recovery and growth plan, Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific has signed a new long-term agreement with one of the US's most prominent global flight training academies, AeroGuard Flight Training Center. The collaboration will see Cathay Pacific send several hundred new pilots to the US annually for training

veryoldchinahand

Acepilothk99 - A strike is just about as likely as 3 feet of snow in Kowloon Tong this Christmas
If you are going to make up scenarios based on nothing much at least try to make them believable.

Bekol delay

VOCH, Acepilothk99 is just posting what's been written in SCMP, where the FAU was quoted. Hardly made up, but exaggerated as that publication is inclined to do, maybe.
I don't understand the need for taking that condescending tone though.

Cathay Pacific cabin crew union receives backing from members to take possible further action against Hong Kong carrier if demands not met | South China Morning Post (scmp.com)

deja vu

Yeah, I remember a very successful industrial action by the FAU in '89 or '90 when CX was considered a good company to work for. The company did everything possible to demonise the CC locally, as they always do, but public support was overwhelmingly behind the crews, as you would expect. The company folded eventually but they got their revenge on the union office holders in a later series of setups. I do recall the union leader, a Filipina, won significant compensation after many years of legal battles for wrongful dismissal.

I wish the FAU al the best.

Incidentally, I do recall it almost snowing in Kowloon Tong one dark December.

veryoldchinahand

As I wrote 'Bekol delay' a much exaggerated issue from the Standard already resolved when the rag went to bed. A quick check prior to posting would have given the poster the facts.
'deja vu' I remember it well but rather differently. I was still working at the time and and I believe that you are perhaps referring to the cabin crew sit in in August 2015 as nothing of any significance as I recall happened in 1989/1990. I also recall a modicum of snow in Kowloon Tong perhaps in the late nineties

Bekol delay

I posted a link to the SCMP VOCH, not sure where you got the standard from. A quick check of the facts may help you.

Australia2

The pilots joint the industrial action . . . . . . . . I assume you believe in Santa ?

Maybe the DEC’s can help . . . . . . what a sad mess.

Merry Christmas wherever it finds you.

Will IB Fayed

In a much better outfit that that **** hole.
great post.

Bangaluru

I’m so glad I’ve left Cathay and Hong Kong.... 👍

RAT Management

Well I would say you haven't really left Hong Kong, if you're still coming onto the fragrant harbour page.

Go get the life you claim to have and stop coming to the prune

SabrinaSenior

Cabin crew just told me that a major gripe is with cashless allowance…

Cathay uses the “buy” or bid rate to calculate how much hkd equivalent to pay you, but the buy rate is the rate that the bank buys outport currency from you … not the rate you buy outport currency from the bank…

If you spend local currency at out port, you actually pay the sell rate to the bank (what the bank sells the currency to you at). Since the allowance is for outport expenses, it should be in outport currency.

Since we used to all get outport currencies for allowance, cx used to have to pay the sell rate to get the local currencies to give to us.

now they’re making bank at everyone’s expense by pocketing the 1% or whatever the spread is just by telling us the buy rate is what they pay to buy outport currency.

Flying Clog

OK, am I the only one who's confused?!

Cavallier

Nope ….