Taipei, Dec. 25 (CNA) Taipei-based EVA Airways (EVA Air) said Monday that it will pay employees year-end bonuses equal to six months salary, the highest since the company was founded, at a time when some of its pilots are voting on a strike due to pay issues.
The year-end bonuses, which will apply to employees at the airline and its subsidiaries, will be accompanied by an average monthly pay increase of NT$5,000 (US$160.77) for EVA Air's crew and ground staff and of NT$11,000 to NT$20,000 for pilots, depending on their rank.
Employees will also receive a mid-year bonus next year, with the amount to be decided based on the annual profits made by their companies, according to the airline.
EVA Air was able to offer the record bonuses because of the recovery of the global aviation industry in 2023 from the restrictions previously imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic that limited traveling.
EVA Air pilots who belong to the Taoyuan Union of Pilots (TUP) started voting on Dec. 22 on whether to strike during the Lunar New Year holidays if the airline refuses to grant their demand for a structural pay hike.
The results are expected on Jan. 5, 2024 after the end of the vote the previous day.
The union is demanding that the airline give its pilots a 20 percent raise and increase their international allowance to US$6 per hour from US$3.30 per hour.
Commenting on the airline's year-end bonus announcement, TUP researcher Chen Po-chien (陳柏謙) told CNA on Monday that the TUP board of directors and supervisors will meet Tuesday to discuss strike-related issues, including the airline's year-end bonus and pay hike plans.
Chen said the union has expressed the hope since February 2022 of negotiating a more systematic pay adjustment mechanism with management.
The airline's statement Monday could give people the impression that EVA Air is giving more to employees than in the past, Chen said, but the core issue is that management has not yet met with the union to negotiate a long-term mechanism for salary adjustments, he argued.
Salaries are only one of many issues of concern for the union, Chen said, with talent retention and flight safety other issues that should be on the agenda.
Currently, 660 of EVA Air's roughly 1,500 pilots belong to the union, and once 50 percent of them vote in favor of going on strike, they would be legally allowed to strike, according to Chen.
Even if the union decides to strike, union members will still first talk with EVA Air and decide whether to go on strike based on how willing the airline is to address their issues and stop offering stingy wages to cut personnel costs.
