March 31. In an astonishingly bold move, striking aircrew turned 14 passenger jets round in mid-flight and flew back to their point of origin, Kunming in south-west Yunnan province. The pilots were protesting against restrictive labour contracts.
The action by pilots of China Eastern Airlines took place against a background of growing discontent among China’s aircrews. On March 14, forty Shanghai Airlines pilots “took sick leave”. Following their example, on March 28, eleven East Star Airline pilots threw sickies.
China’s booming airline business is facing a labour shortage but to prevent pilots moving to better -paid jobs, bosses have forced them to sign 99-year contracts with punitive penalty clauses if they resign. A labour arbitration committee ordered one pilot to pay his employer, Xiamen Airlines, 1.2 million yuan (86,000 pounds). In a case yet to be ruled on, China Eastern is demanding a staggering 12.57 million yuan (902,000 pounds)in compensation from a pilot who quit.
Pilots have tried filing lawsuits against the airlines to have the contracts declared invalid, but the courts have predictably sided with the employers.
“The only option left for us is to go on strike," said one of the China Eastern pilots.
The strike drew a predictable response from the so-called communist authorities. China’s civil aviation authority vowed to punish the China Eastern strikers severely and said strike leaders could face a lifetime employment ban.
Sources: Guangzhou Daily April 2, China.org.cn April 2, and previous China.org.cn stories.
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