FlyerTalk Forums - Eva Air and TFAU Union Reach Negotiation Impasse

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Eva Air and TFAU Union Reach Negotiation Impasse

Post-Nov 29/30 meeting between the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union and Eva Air, the union has threatened to shutdown negotiations and enter pre-strike arbitration as BR and TFAU have not been able to reach consensus on any issues for the last 3 months and TFAU feels that BR is beginning to ignore them as a union. BR has reminded the union that the company has taken steps to increase benefits and help improve the workplace in addition to helping shareholder equity, and is committed to stable and sustainable growth in the coming years.

The following demands have been made by TFAU, and BR has responded to each accordingly:

Key Issue holding the negotiations is Salary and Benefit negotiations should only apply to union members. Non-union members should not get these benefits.
- Eva Air will not budge on this issue. They believe in equal pay and benefits for all employees, union or non-union. They've threatened to readjust working contracts every year to match union benefits if they are not allowed to adjust with the employees and they've also threatened to stop allowing for union audits(big thing the union has been using).
- Eva Air would like to remind the union that they must follow the set agenda. Constant interruptions to attempt to get this specific issue resolved will not be negotiated with. They hope the union understands the company will not negotiate if it is not on the agenda and the union is only wasting the limited meeting time.
Adjustment of per diem from NT90 to NT150
- Eva Air has been consistent on this issue. Breakfast for flight attendants is paid for by the company(not paid for at CI), and they continue to receive per diem during that time(and during sleep). Meals only cost around NT1600-2000 a day, and they receive well above that. The company has historically adjusted the meal costs at outstations that were at a higher cost to ensure fairness of compensation. If there are changes to the per diem structure, this model will be discontinued.
- The company has continued to ask the union through negotiations that they prove the NT90 is below what is needed to fully cover meal costs, but the unions only response continues to be that China Airlines is giving NT150. Eva Air reminds all employees they are working for Eva Air and not China Airlines. Those unhappy are free to quit according to contractual terms. Unless evidence is given, there will be no changes made.
60 hour minimum/month and Annual Leave Calculations
- The company had come to a consensus on these two agenda items before, but the union requested that it be implemented earlier than the planned 1/1/2019. The company said they would apply it earlier to the whole workforce. The union objected. The company now refuses to sign the agreement as they accuse the union of changing terms last minute, which is negotiating in bad faith. They will object to any changes in the future and will only sign the original agreement they made in September. There will be no implementation of this system on January 1st, 2019 anymore as the agreement was not signed.
Adjustment of Grievance Flights(TYO, PNH, PEK)
- This year, BR gave FAs and pilots overnight in PEK during the month of July, the month that historically has been prone to TS delays. However, the union demands overnights for the whole year, which the company rejects. 10 hour workdays do not call for an overnight stay.
- Also, KHH-NRT will have overnight arrangements during the winter season(Nov-Mar). Apparently, the union members are not happy as the hotel arrangement is extremely far from the city(Oh galore!). BR says they arrange the hotels, union has no say over where they are placed as long as the accommodations are inhabitable. The hotel is apparently right next to NRT(ANA Crowne Plaza or Hilton would be my guess).
- Consultations regarding the other flights previously in dispute have constantly been raised, including the increase in staffing onboard and changes in inflight service flow. All have been rejected(overnight is the only thing the union will accept) and the union has instead decided to make up things in the media that the company is ignoring the union on these issues. The company asks the union to release the transcript of the meeting if they are so adamant the company is not responding to the issue.
- BR apparently said they would do PNH overnight, but staffing onboard would be reduced back down to 6(currently 8). The union said no.
- For TYO flights, BR offered 2 extra FA's onboard and a change in service flow for the meal service/duty free service instead of overnight. If overnight were the only choice, on the TPE-NRT flight, staffing would be reduced to the bare minimum(10 and 6). The daytime TSA-HND would not be changed as the duty period is only 9hr45min. KHH-NRT would gain an additional 2 FA's during the summer months or an overnight but staffing of 6. The union said no.
- For PEK, BR offered to increase staffing in the other 11 months by 1 FA in the winter and 2 in the summer in addition to service flow changes. The union said no.

Eva Air reminds the union that in order for a sustainable and successful operation, all employees must be treated equally and there needs to be rational decision making. An all-or-nothing attitude will get nothing done and will instead harm employees, shareholders, and customers.

BR mgmt. is also reportedly wanting to have a shuteye rule amongst the crew, forcing crews to have 8 or 10 hours of lights off, door closed, shuteye rest prior to the flight. The union has not said anything, but this policy is reportedly a retaliatory policy as this would ruin a lot of shopping/exploration time the FA's have traditionally used, especially in the US/Canada. Crews have generally been out during the day, went back to the hotel around 4-5pm local time, taking a short 2-4 hour nap, before getting ready for the midnight flight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hayzel7773 (Post 30492709)

Crews have generally been out during the day, went back to the hotel around 4-5pm local time, taking a short 2-4 hour nap, before getting ready for the midnight flight.

No wonder the crew seems to be less cheerful on the flight out of YYZ.

BR is bringing the big hammer down. These FAs need to remember they are dealing with BR and not partially government owned CI.

Some of these demands are so laughable. BR is basically telling the union let's all follow the rules and have the bare minimum. You want rest? We will make sure you are actually resting lol...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave510 (Post 30494632)

No wonder the crew seems to be less cheerful on the flight out of YYZ.

That's not ok at all. They decided against resting and they instead went out to explore so that's their problem. Next time they take it out on you, complain. Totally not ok.

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolfish1103 (Post 30494826)

TFAU is using the same CI strategy with BR and it is clearly not working. The constant protests and the "pressure" clearly does not affect management and the government has been flat out ignoring them. BR instead is maneuvering behind the scenes to screw the union.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hayzel7773 (Post 30492709)

BR mgmt. is also reportedly wanting to have a shuteye rule amongst the crew, forcing crews to have 8 or 10 hours of lights off, door closed, shuteye rest prior to the flight.

I wonder who is actually enforcing this rule?

Quote:

Originally Posted by neuro0 (Post 30496478)

I wonder who is actually enforcing this rule?

Honor system and hotel card swipe data audits. You can't swipe in within the shut-in time or you will get in trouble. It's actually quite easy to enforce. Hotels are more than happy to hand over the data to the company in addition to CCTV.

Violate the rules and get caught by the safety team, CAA is contacted for safety violation, you are fired or heavily discplined(and this is recorded for you...going to be hard getting a job in the future), and you now have a record that may deny you any licensed aviation position(and possibly more).

BR has actually screwed over many people's future through strict reporting of your discipline violations and your recorded incidents with the company in addition to "leaking" your irresponsibility to the media that may or may not be broadcast with your photo(your eyes are blurred of course and only your last name will be used). Media will be more than happy to pick up a safety violation story and run it to make a big deal out of it.

TFAU has announced to its members that they are shutting down negotiations. After 20 negotiations, there is still no consensus on most issues. The differences between a CI FA and BR FA and growing larger and larger by the day.

In response, BR mgmt refuses to step down and give in, instead inviting those unhappy with current conditions to leave. The media has hushed the issue on behalf of BR. Meanwhile, BR has reportedly hired a lobbying firm for their push for a special aviation labor law. Additionally, the board recently approved the hiring of a union busting law firm.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hayzel7773 (Post 30495129)

Negotiation is an art, and TFAU is definitely not very good at it.

I don't think Tsai wants anything to do with them after getting screwed last time, plus DPP is not in need to sub in a guy of their own (and it's BR so government has no influence in making changes).

Can someone explain if and when this could impact flights? Have two BR flights in January....could these be impacted?

Thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by lax01 (Post 30499133)

Can someone explain if and when this could impact flights? Have two BR flights in January....could these be impacted?

Thanks

No. They are just voicing these grievances to the public right now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hayzel7773 (Post 30499427)

No. They are just voicing these grievances to the public right now.

Hoping the bad publicity will affect bookings and BR to give in?

Is this a generation thing or a labor-awareness thing in Taiwan? I wonder how Chairman Y.F. Chang would have handled these issues....

Any conditions on foreign cabin crews?

With people beating down the airlines' doors to become FAs, how much power does the union have?

Quote:

Originally Posted by username (Post 30499771)

They are trying to gain public support in case of a strike. I think this is the new strawberry generation's thing and BR mgmt. is having none of it. They've stopped with being nice and are apparently now very stringent and unforgiving(and rather "threatening" is how the union described it).

Foreign crews are not able to join the union or advocate for their rights through them, though they are all paid well in terms of their local standards.

BR actually has not hired a single FA this year, foreign or domestic. They are drastically cutting down the FA numbers and instead forcing FAs to work significantly more hours.

I am with BR on this.

FA is there to do a job. Not go explore a city or shopping.

Rest period is a rest period.

You want to explore, do it on your own time and dime.