Sacked pilot falls to death

From South China Morning Post, 5 February 2002, and 28 March 2002

Greg England, a first officer sacked by airline Cathay Pacific in July 2001, died after falling from the window of his third floor flat.

Mr England, 31, had been taking medication for stress, after being sacked without reason by Cathay Pacific. 48 others were sacked along with Mr England in an operation that Cathay Pacific has yet to fully explain; many analysts see the dismissals as an attempt to intimidate other pilots into accepting flexible working as standard working practice.

His friend Corey Bousen said, “All he wanted was his job back. He didn’t want to be caught up in this bitter dispute. To Cathay Pacific’s mangement, I ask that they not let Greg’s tragic death be for nothing.”

After the death, the airline confirmed their decision to terminate pilots’ contracts, and said it would not negotiate with the pilot’s union, the Aircrew Officers Association.

On 14 March the International Federation of Airline Pilots (Ifalpa) appealed to the UN’s International Labour Organisation (ILO) to investigate Cathay Pacific Airways for sacking, without appeal, over 50 pilots including union officials in July 2001. The sacked pilots are members of the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association. (see ALU 40 for further details)

No pay cut for FDWs

From CMR and AMCB bulletins, 1 February 2002

After several rounds of demonstrations by thousands of foreign domestic workers (FDW) and intensive lobbying by unions and concern groups, on 1 February the government conceded there would be no pay cut for FDWs. Thousands of unions and labour groups celebrated the victory the following Sunday, the day off for most FDWs (though some employers illegally deny workers a rest day).

While celebrating, activists warned against complacency. Employer representative groups accused the government of reneging on a commitment to reduce pay, and continue to lobby for cuts in working conditions including the pay cut.

Women first for the sack

From South China Morning Post, 4 March 2002

A survey by the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU), Hong Kong’s biggest labour federation, shows that women workers are more than twice as likely as men to be unemployed.

Hong Kong’s overall unemployment rate hit a record high 6.7 percent in 2002. However the FTU survey revealed that 13.4 percent of 1,141 women interviewed were out of work. The survey also indicated that 2.2 percent of women are under-employed, meaning workers are forced to work less hours than they would prefer.

Women’s unemployment was worst in manufacturing, as work ‘relocates’ to mainland China or Vietnam, followed by wholesale and retail, and then the hotel and catering sector. 46 percent of the unemployed women surveyed said they had been jobless for more than six months.

PCCW in profit sacks 858

From The Asian Wall Street Journal & South China Morning Post, 26 March 2002

As Hong Kong’s official unemployment rate hit a record 6.8 percent, Pacific Century CyberWorks announced a six percent staff cut – 858 workers, with whispers of more redundancies soon.

Fearing widespread industrial action, the company decided to make what is probably the first of two big staff redundancies for 2002. Analysts say this could help defuse industrial strife for the company.

The sacked workers are mainly technical staff in two office blocks. They were summarily dismissed on 25 March. Letters of dismissal instructed the shocked staff to leave the company buildings immediately.

The workers’ enterprise union advised sacked staff not to sign any redundancy agreement with PCCW until the union had discussed the issue with its members and decided on any action.

The redundancies come on top of just under 1,000 staff in the second half of 2001 – 340 in July, 100 in October, and 500 in December.
The cuts come days after PCCW announced a return to profitability – HK$1.89 billion in 2001.
Federation of Trade Unions spokeswoman, Chan Yuen-han criticised PCCW for sacking workers before considering other ways of saving expenditure.
Describing a fund the company has proposed to set up to help redundant workers as “pure hypocrisy”, she added, “It is like someone paying compensation to one’s family after committing murder.”

In August 2000, PCCW took over the ailing Cable and Wireless HKT to give it a virtual monopoly of fixed line business in Hong Kong. However Cable and Wireless was vastly overpriced, and has left PCCW with too much capacity, and HK$46.7 billion debt. It is this debt that 2,250 workers have paid for with their jobs since the C&W/HKT takeover. The staff has decreased from 16,000 at the time of the takeover to 13,500.

With the 2,000 strong PCCW Staff Association implementing an overtime ban (referred to as a work to rule), on 3 April PCCW announced “up to” two month salary bonus for the remaining staff – according to individual performance. On 8 April PCCW announced it would receive applications from the sacked workers for “up to” HK$30,000 (US$3,846).

Domestic worker scalded

From South China Morning Post, 19 March 2002

Lau Siu-wah, a surveyor and employer of a domestic worker, was found guilty of assault on 18 March 2002.

The case has taken almost a whole year to process. At 11 p.m. on 10 April 2001, Lau woke the worker, Ms Gacad Navarro from the Philippines, and scalded her with hot tea when she refused to take a HK$300 deduction from her pay as punishment for not recording the day’s chores in her employer’s log book. Lau and his wife, Yung Shui-mei, both denied the incident took place, but the court did not believe them, sentencing Lau to three months jail for assault occasioning actual bodily harm on 3 April.

The morning after the incident Lau forced the domestic worker to sign a letter of resignation. He then returned with her to the agency that recruited her. After Ms Navarro told the agency about the assault, during which her abdomen and right thigh were scalded, the agency contacted the police.