All China Airlines flights out of Taipei cancelled today

All China Airlines flights scheduled to depart Taipei between 0600 and 2200 (local time) today have been cancelled, as the first airline strike in Taiwan’s history gets underway. According to The Diplomat, the flight attendants’ union is critical of China Airlines for its long working hours, low pay on holiday shifts, as well as its new policy of making crew report for duty at Taoyuan International Airport, rather than at the more conveniently located Taipei Songshan Airport. A crew-only vote was conducted by China Airlines’ union earlier this year, and 96 per cent of respondents voted in support of a strike. While the Skyteam member had initially announced that only eight flights would be affected today, airlineroute.net has since revealed that all flights departing Taipei have now been cancelled. Union spokesperson Huang Huei-cheng has also revealed that the organisation may consider confiscating the passports and travel permits of 1,500 crew members in order to ensure that they stick to their decision to go on strike. “As for how long the strike will last, it would depend on when China Airlines decides to revert back to the hourly wage rates and duty-reporting rules that were in use before June 1… We will negotiate with the company then,” said Huang. While China Airlines reels from the strike, the airline’s biggest competitor Eva Air does not need to worry about similar problems – the privately owned international carrier is notorious for its action against any union activity, and routinely binds its crew members to an agreement that no union should be formed. For more information, visit china-airlines.com Clement Huang