Letters | Why Cathay Pacific’s firing of employees amid the Hong Kong protests should worry us all

I refer to the letter “Don’t boycott Cathay Pacific, tens of thousands of Hong Kong jobs are at stake” (August 30) in which Anuradha Singh voiced concerns over the idea of boycotting the Hong Kong airline.

While I appreciate her concern for the Cathay employees who may face termination should the airline’s business be severely impacted, her worries simply reiterate the message delivered by government officials at various press conferences over the past few weeks: should the protests continue, the local economy will suffer.

On the grounds of ensuring passenger or aviation safety, Chinese regulators insisted that flights can only enter mainland airspace after the airline’s employees have been vetted. The safety warning came in early August. By the end of the month, the number of dismissals in the aviation industry had reached at least 20.

Surprisingly, albeit being suspected of participating in illegal protests, most of the dismissed workers’ allegedly unsafe behaviour did not cause the police to take action, investigate and impose appropriate charges. Some were shocked by the company’s swift actions, tearfully informing us that the everyday use of social networking sites could now be turned against employees. It appears that for Cathay, social media posts were enough to justify immediate dismissal of its loyal staff, without instituting any further disciplinary procedures.