TAIPEI (TVBS News) — The ground crew at EVA Air went on strike earlier this week to protest their year-end bonus for 2022, which resulted in the delay of 47 flights on New Year's Day.
This has many worried that the strike could happen again during upcoming holidays, including the Chinese New Year and Feb. 28 Memorial Day.
The main issue was that many cargo and baggage handlers at Evergreen Airline Services Co. (EGAS) took the day off on Jan. 1 to protest their year-end bonus, which is only one month's salary.
This is compared to other subsidiaries under the Evergreen Group, such as EVA Airways Corp., which will award employees with a 3-month bonus, and Evergreen Marine Corp., whose year-end bonus is 45 months worth of salary.
On the day of the strike, the Minister of Transportation and Communications contacted the EGAS Chairman Chen Yo-yu who took charge and personally helped locate and transport luggages on New Year's Day.
Still, how does EVA Air expect to resolve this issue? According to reports, they had previously reached out to Taoyuan International Airport Service Co. (TIAS) for assistance.
However, the union refused to pitch in, pointing out that their subsidies have remained stagnant for 20 years while their previous calls for a 4% raise in wages remained unanswered.
Despite EVA Air issuing an apology and getting flights back on schedule, travelers are still concerned that the same problem will occur during the upcoming lunar new year holiday.
By then, airline traffic could be even worse as more people choose to travel abroad for the new year after two years of living with the pandemic.