TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taoyuan Union of Pilots (TUP) on Thursday (Jan. 25) said that if negotiations with EVA Air fail, a strike could occur over the Lunar New Year and Tomb Sweeping Holiday.
Wednesday's (Jan. 24) negotiations between labor and management concluded without a resolution. The next day, TUP held a board meeting and issued an early warning for two possible strikes at the EVA Air branch: one from Feb. 7-18 and the other from March 30 to April 7.
TUP researcher Chen Po-chien (陳柏謙) told CNA that giving notice would allow passengers flying with EVA Air to prepare. He added notice of the union's intentions would be posted on the TUP website 24 hours before the commencement of strike action.
According to the Settlement of Labor–Management Disputes Act (勞資爭議處理法), a strike taken by the union to assert its claims is a legally defined dispute action. Until the union and management reach an agreement, the right to strike persists. If both labor and management do reach a consensus through negotiations, the union no longer has this legal right.
TUP said as long as management provides a clear proposal addressing the union's demands before Jan. 30 it will participate in the meeting scheduled for Jan. 31.
On Wednesday (Jan. 24), EVA Air said it had negotiated with TUP at the Taoyuan City Government Department of Labor. It said the two parties continued to build consensus and scheduled another consultation meeting on Jan. 31.
The air carrier added that it looks forward to reaching a consensus with the union "to achieve a win-win solution for the company, employees, and passengers."