Mandarin Airlines’ labor union yesterday said that it has promised its members will not to take leave en masse or stage a strike during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday next month, after reaching an agreement with management on their demands for improved working conditions.
Talks between supervisors and directors of the carrier’s labor union and the management of Mandarin Airlines — a subsidiary of China Airlines (CAL) — were held a day earlier.
The union struck a deal with Mandarin Airlines president Roger Han (韓梁中) and decided not to instruct its members to take leave en masse as it had previously planned.
The union last month threatened to strike and said it did not rule out a possibility of staging a strike during the Sept. 15 to Sept. 18 Mid-Autumn Festival holiday weekend after negotiations with management broke down.
Among the union’s demands, employees of the carrier wanted the same compensation and the same subsidies enjoyed by their CAL counterparts.
Before the consensus was reached on Wednesday, Mandarin Airlines’ management said that the gap in compensation and subsidies between the carrier and its parent company resulted from their different operations, since CAL is responsible for international routes, and Mandarin Airlines largely serves domestic routes.
However, Mandarin Airlines promised to raise salaries and benefits for its employees in “a reasonable manner.”
During the negotiations, Wang Hou-wei (王厚偉), director of the Department of Employment Relations at the Ministry of Labor, and Ho Shu-ping (何淑萍), deputy director of the Civil Aeronautics Administration, served as mediators.
While declining to disclose the details about the agreement with the union, Mandarin Airlines said it has been very sincere by talking with the union, so a consensus was reached.
The union had issued its demands for improved working conditions after CAL in late June accepted demands by its flight attendants, including an increase in overseas hourly subsidies from US$2 to US$5.
Before CAL and its flight attendants reached the agreement, the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union staged a day-long strike, costing CAL about NT$280 million (US$8.94 million).
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