British Airways hits out at Hong Kong union leader as decade-old pay dispute resurfaces
Carol Ng Man-yee is attempting to claim HK$150,000 for overtime pay and meal allowances, an action first raised in 2007, but airline says she is abusing judicial process
British Airways has accused a leader of Hong Kong’s largest cabin crew union of abusing judicial process by reopening a decade-old pay dispute that the company claimed she intended to use a “bargaining chip” to further her own cause.
British Airways PLC made the accusation in a letter submitted to the Labour Tribunal, which agreed last December to hear Carol Ng Man-yee’s claim of HK$150,000 for overtime pay and meal allowances, first filed in 2007, that could pave the way for 40 other similar cases worth HK$6.4 million.
The airline is now seeking to strike out Ng’s claim on grounds of unreasonable delay, or to bring the case to High Court if that fails.
Ng, the general secretary of the BA Hong Kong International Cabin Crew Association, said outside court that the delay was the company’s fault, and she only reopened her case after the management turned down a proposed package last summer following three years of settlement negotiations.
The package, she revealed, included a lowered monetary claim attached with conditions such as fixing holiday pay and recognising BA Hong Kong International Cabin Crew Association as the airline’s official union in the city, so that it could join pay negotiations in Britain.