Union votes to strike at Taiwan's Eva Air in salary, conditions dispute (updated)

EVA Airways

22/01/2024 03:54

(Adds comment from Eva, paragraphs 6-7, 9, stock price,
paragraph 10)
       TAIPEI, Jan 22 (Reuters) - A pilots union on Monday
voted to strike at Taiwan's Eva Airways  2618.TW  in a dispute
over salaries and working conditions, raising the prospect of
industrial action that could impact flights over the crucial
Lunar New Year holidays next month.
    Taoyuan Union of Pilots says Eva has not raised salaries
enough and has been recruiting foreign pilots to fill manpower
shortages without adhering to the law. Eva says it has steadily
been raising salaries and has not recruited any pilots in
contravention of the law.
    The union began balloting members on strike action last
month after talks with Eva broke down.
    In a statement after the vote was counted, the union said
pilots had voted to authorise it to launch strike action and it
expected strikes to take place around the Lunar New Year, but
did not give exact dates.
    The week-long Lunar New Year holiday starts in Taiwan on
Feb. 8.
    Eva, in a statement, expressed regret at the vote and called
on the union to keep talking.
    Eva "will not abandon negotiations with the trade union", it
added.
    The union said the strike will be announced 24 hours before
it starts and it expects long-haul destinations to be most
impacted, but added it is still willing to talk to the airline
"until the last moment" to prevent it from taking place. 
    Eva said it has set up an emergency response team to respond
to any strike and will announce affected flights on its website
as soon as possible.
        Eva's Taipei-listed shares fell more than 1.6% on Monday
morning, underperforming a 0.6% gain for the broader market
 .TWII .
    Eva, best known internationally for the Hello Kitty livery
on some of its jets, operates flights to many destinations
around Asia as well as to North America, Europe and Australia.
It is Taiwan's second-largest carrier after China Airlines
 2610.TW .
    In 2019, Eva cancelled hundreds of flights during an almost
one month-long flight attendants' strike - the longest-ever
strike for Taiwan's aviation industry.
    This month Eva finalised an order for 33 Airbus  AIR.PA 
aircraft, with the airline previously indicating the deal was
worth up to $10.1 billion.

 (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
 ((ben.blanchard@thomsonreuters.com;))