A labour union is pressuring the hard-hit airline to save as many jobs as possible
Layoffs are ‘inevitable’ for Cathay Pacific, said CEO Augustus Tang Kin-wing.
The CEO said they’re facing a surplus of staff and there is an urgent need to take ‘decisive action’ to preserve the company’s finances.
This is why employees and their unions have been campaigning to keep their jobs — going so far as to pay for a newspaper ad to gain public support and mount pressure on the hard-hit carrier.
The CEO’s comments come as no surprise after the airline rejected additional wage support from the Hong Kong government sometime in September. Since then, industry pundits and employees speculated that it was simply a matter of time before they retrenched staff.
Read more: SIA Group to slash about 4,300 jobs
Employees, however, have been on the offensive, with Cathay’s pilots demanding a ‘bigger role’ in restructuring talks, reported the South China Morning Post.
The city’s union for pilots, the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association (HKAOA) have made proposals for the airline to keep as many jobs as possible.
Time may be running out for the union as the company will be terminating their recognition of the union come October, according to agreed terms made three months ago. After the partnership expires, the airline can proceed with any restructuring plans without consulting the union.
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“We’re hoping that before the company makes an announcement in terms of how pilots will be part of the restructuring, we’ll have an opportunity to engage with them,” Chris Beebe, general secretary at HKAOA told the Post.
“When it comes to the future of pilots and their families, we feel as stakeholders it is something we should be involved in. We think that if we work together, we can produce something superior to what we could do independently.”
Read more: How to manage retrenchments with dignity
‘Our doors remain open’
To further their campaign, the union used a survey by Ipsos, which showed that nine in 10 people said pilots were important to Hong Kong’s global reputation. Another 87% said pilots were important to the city’s economy.
In a statement, a Cathay spokesperson said that they “emphatically agree” with the research.
“Our team of over 30,000 outstanding people, including our pilots, who help make us Asia’s leading aviation hub, are vitally important to Hong Kong,” they said. “We have taken, and will continue to take, every measure we can to protect as many livelihoods as possible.”
The spokesperson added that the company had ongoing communication with all their different employee groups”, including with the Aircrew Officers Association.
They assured employees that “our door remains open” to ideas presented.