Eighteen pilots jointly submitted their resignations to their employer, Okay Airways, China's first privately-owned airline, due to ongoing disputes over compensation, time-weekly.com reported.
The pilots submitted the dispute to the Arbitration Tribunal for Labor Disputes in Shunyi District of Beijing, owing to Okay Airways' refusal to terminate their contracts, a former employee of Okay who does not want to be identified told time-weekly.com. Okay then lodged a counterclaim asking for compensation amounting to 5 million yuan, or 732,316 U.S. dollars from each pilot.
According to Okay Airways, the pilots' refusal to execute their contract resulted in the suspension of more than 60 airplanes and led to great financial losses. But the pilots argued that the company's management was so poor that it was unable to pay social security and benefits owed to them on time.
"The corporation is unwilling to negotiate with the pilots, so we have no choice but to resort to legal channels," claimed Zhang Qihuai, lawyer for these eighteen pilots.
Some 40 percent of Okay Airways' 19 routes have already stopped flights due to the shortage of pilots and serious financial losses. "Only four Boeing 737 airplanes are still in use now, which may more or less balance out the deficit," a person working for Okay Airways said.
The labor contract dispute is set to go through the arbitration procedure next week on November 23, 2009. |
