Thai Airways Strike Delays Flights

[george]

THAI strike delays flights

BANGKOK: -- A strike by ground staff over pay and bonuses has delayed several flights by Thai Airways International (THAI) at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok.

The strike began on Friday in protest against the THAI board's decision to pay a 2012 bonus of just one month's salary and to limit salary increases to 4%.

THAI labour union president Jamsri Sukchoterat insisted on Saturday that the ground staff would continue their strike until THAI chairman Ampon Kittiampon complied with their demands.

The union wants a two-month bonus and a maximum salary increase of 7.5%.

It was reported that several flights of the national carrier and other airlines had been delayed since Saturday morning because all THAI ground staff stopped working to join the protest.

Transport Minister Chatchart Sitthipan said on Saturday that he had ordered THAI president Sorajak Kasemsuvan to immediately hold talks with the ground staff staging the strike.

Mr Chatchart warned that if the strike affected passengers and flights at the airport, stringent penalties would be imposed against the strikers.

It was reported that some flights were delayed by about 10-15 minutes from normal schedules.

Mr Ampon said he had directed management to rapidly provide explanations to the ground staff about how THAI intended to divide it net profits.

The profits are to be divided into three parts. The first part will be for paying bonuses to staff, the second for dividends to shareholders, and the third will be for business expansion, he added.

Airports of Thailand, meanwhile, said on Saturday said the main cause of flight delays was not the strike, but bad weather overseas.

Passengers planning to travel can get flight updates by calling THAI at 02-356-1111.

-- The Nation 2013-01-19

[Thai at Heart]

Didn't Thai make a whopping loss last year?

[Pimay1]

Airports of Thailand, meanwhile, said on Saturday said the main cause of flight delays was not the strike, but bad weather overseas.

Would that qualify as another white lie? I do believe it would. But TIT.

[hellodolly]

Doesn't seem to make a difference what country you are in unions will still demand ridicules things. 2 month pay for a bonus. Even back in Canada they weren't that bad. That is the ones I knew about.

7 1/2% pay raise. I just got a 2% on my Social Security.

[Pimay1]

Doesn't seem to make a difference what country you are in unions will still demand ridicules things. 2 month pay for a bonus. Even back in Canada they weren't that bad. That is the ones I knew about.

7 1/2% pay raise. I just got a 2% on my Social Security.

Lucky you. The thieves in the US just gave me a 1.7% increase.

[Nisa]

Didn't Thai make a whopping loss last year?

I think their profits were just considerably less than expected but they certainly have lost money in a few past years and is certainly not like the 40 straight years they saw in profits previously. No idea what they are getting paid and if two months is a reasonable bonus or not. Maybe they have been getting 3-months previous years and think 2 is fair as the bonus is likely an expected part of the pay.

As for The union wanting "a maximum salary increase of 7.5%" well it seems the company didn't surpass that did they. Assuming they meant minimum this would be fair, depending on the company's finances, with just taking into consideration the minimum wage hike. That has really put things out of whack for all levels of employees since somebody starting at a company now may be earning what somebody who has put in 5-years in earning. Once you jump the lowest paid workers a big jump like this then you need to adjust salaries across the board

I am all for Unions generally but sad when they shoot themselves in the foot and cost workers their jobs. I just hope they are being reasonable in their demands. Even with Thailand's low unemployment rate, I would assume there would still be people lining up for these jobs.

[steve187]

didn't cx staff threaten strikes and end up with the same settlement as thai have given

?

[chooka]

Doesn't seem to make a difference what country you are in unions will still demand ridicules things. 2 month pay for a bonus. Even back in Canada they weren't that bad. That is the ones I knew about.

7 1/2% pay raise. I just got a 2% on my Social Security.

Lucky you. The thieves in the US just gave me a 1.7% increase.

Well if your an Aussie living here you get nothing, you guys have little to complain about.

[chooka]

Didn't Thai make a whopping loss last year?

I think their profits were just considerably less than expected but they certainly have lost money in a few past years and is certainly not like the 40 straight years they saw in profits previously. No idea what they are getting paid and if two months is a reasonable bonus or not. Maybe they have been getting 3-months previous years and think 2 is fair as the bonus is likely an expected part of the pay.

As for The union wanting "a maximum salary increase of 7.5%" well it seems the company didn't surpass that did they. Assuming they meant minimum this would be fair, depending on the company's finances, with just taking into consideration the minimum wage hike. That has really put things out of whack for all levels of employees since somebody starting at a company now may be earning what somebody who has put in 5-years in earning. Once you jump the lowest paid workers a big jump like this then you need to adjust salaries across the board

I am all for Unions generally but sad when they shoot themselves in the foot and cost workers their jobs. I just hope they are being reasonable in their demands. Even with Thailand's low unemployment rate, I would assume there would still be people lining up for these jobs.

7.5% is a huge demand. Over how many years is that? We fought tooth and nail to get an 9% rise and that is over 4 years.

[Pimay1]

Doesn't seem to make a difference what country you are in unions will still demand ridicules things. 2 month pay for a bonus. Even back in Canada they weren't that bad. That is the ones I knew about.

7 1/2% pay raise. I just got a 2% on my Social Security.

Lucky you. The thieves in the US just gave me a 1.7% increase.

Well if your an Aussie living here you get nothing, you guys have little to complain about.

Noted. I'll shut up about this.

[Thai at Heart]

Didn't Thai make a whopping loss last year?

I think their profits were just considerably less than expected but they certainly have lost money in a few past years and is certainly not like the 40 straight years they saw in profits previously. No idea what they are getting paid and if two months is a reasonable bonus or not. Maybe they have been getting 3-months previous years and think 2 is fair as the bonus is likely an expected part of the pay.

As for The union wanting "a maximum salary increase of 7.5%" well it seems the company didn't surpass that did they. Assuming they meant minimum this would be fair, depending on the company's finances, with just taking into consideration the minimum wage hike. That has really put things out of whack for all levels of employees since somebody starting at a company now may be earning what somebody who has put in 5-years in earning. Once you jump the lowest paid workers a big jump like this then you need to adjust salaries across the board

I am all for Unions generally but sad when they shoot themselves in the foot and cost workers their jobs. I just hope they are being reasonable in their demands. Even with Thailand's low unemployment rate, I would assume there would still be people lining up for these jobs.

These guaranteed bonus systems are nonsense. Just pay bigger salaries and do away with it. Aren't the crews classified as government employees anyway.

[bigbamboo]

A two month bonus for what?

Obviously not performance related.

[george]

Thai Airways staff rally for higher pay, disrupt operations at Suvarnabhumi

BANGKOK, Jan 19 - Some 600 Thai Airways International (THAI) employees protested at Suvarnabhumi Airport today, demanding a 7.5 per cent pay rise and two months bonus.

The rally interfered with today's flights, airline officials said.

In addition to the rally itself, THAI staff refused to move the airline's aircraft from their assigned waiting areas interfering with operations so that the flights of other airlines could not take off or land at the airport.

The protest interfered with luggage handling, forcing the delay of luggage reclamation by almost one hour.

The protesters also called on airline chairman Ampon Kittiampon to resign from his post.

Meanwhile, Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt ordered national flag carrier President Sorajak Kasemsuvan to meet with the employees who staged the protest.

He vowed to move against workers who left their duties to join the protest which caused disruption of flights and affected many travellers.

The protest reportedly delayed the flights by 10 to 15 minutes. (MCOT online news).

-- TNA 2013-01-19

[Buchholz]

Airports of Thailand, meanwhile, said on Saturday said the main cause of flight delays was not the strike, but bad weather overseas.

Would that qualify as another white lie? I do believe it would. But TIT.

It was a lie.

Thai Airways staff rally for higher pay, disrupt operations at Suvarnabhumi

The rally interfered with today's flights, airline officials said.

In addition to the rally itself, THAI staff refused to move the airline's aircraft from their assigned waiting areas interfering with operations so that the flights of other airlines could not take off or land at the airport.

The protest interfered with luggage handling, forcing the delay of luggage reclamation by almost one hour.

[chooka]

A two month bonus for what?

Obviously not performance related.

It's not easy to damage luggage with precision.

[siampolee]

To be fair to those involved in the industrial action they see all around them the rampant financial shenagins being conducted by those in power thus no doubt the protesters have decided they want a slice of the cake too.

Mr Chatchart warned that if the strike affected passengers and flights at the airport, stringent penalties would be imposed against the strikers.

Strange comment in the quote above coming from a representative of a maladministration that professes to support the workers, seems some selective in the fact that the current commission agents involved in assorted ''schemes'' seem to act with impunity.

Well fed fat cats one must suppose are assured of a completely free hand in their nefarious activities unlike the humble employee. Indeed it does seem as if.the new amart is thriving.

Edited January 19, 2013 by siampolee

[Payboy]

......how THAI intended to divide it net profits.

The profits are to be divided into three parts. The first part will be for paying bonuses to staff, the second for dividends to shareholders, and the third will be for business expansion, he added.

What a novel idea! You think it might catch on at other businesses worldwide?

[hellodolly]

Doesn't seem to make a difference what country you are in unions will still demand ridicules things. 2 month pay for a bonus. Even back in Canada they weren't that bad. That is the ones I knew about.

7 1/2% pay raise. I just got a 2% on my Social Security.

Lucky you. The thieves in the US just gave me a 1.7% increase.

I may be wrong but I got $7 on top of the $369 they had been giving me. I guess that is slightly under 2% but not much.

[geriatrickid]

There really are flight delays at major airports around the world.

At Heathrow, more than 400 flights were cancelled out of 1,300, due to the weather. This has had a trickle down effect on EU airports.

East coast USA and Canada have been experiencing weather delays and flight cancellations due to weather as well.

A quick check of Flight stats shows that the delays are all well within the norm. HKT shows up as having some delays, but this is usual for an airport that is over capacity and only has 1 runway. It seems that the labour disruption isn't hurting long haul departures though. For example;

Bkk Departues to FRA: TG922 to FRA delayed 41 minutes, LH 773 on time, TG 920 21 minute delay

Even on a bad day, baggage delivery at BKK still is faster than most North American airports and is certainly more attentive. I recently had a long haul. It took the ground people 20 minutes to deal with this. (this is typical of many midsized US & Canadian airports) The saw the mess, and just stood around before one of them came over to move the suitcase that was blocking the pad. If it had been at a Thai airport some kid would have been on it fast. I won't comment on the merits of the labour action at TG as I don't know the facts, but all I can say is that a delay at BKK is more bearable for me than elsewhere. It sucks to be delayed in North America and most Eu airports (The exception of course are Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich where they know how to run an airport.)

Edited January 19, 2013 by geriatrickid

[Buchholz]

Various aspects:

Channel 3 reported that the second day of protest caused some 30 flights of THAI to be delayed as some luggage boarding staffs stopped working

http://www.nationmul...n-30198251.html

For 2012, THAI expects to record a net profit of more than Bt700 million.

http://www.nationmul...l-30198230.html

Meanwhile, this evening THAI President Sorajak agreed to the striking workers demand of pay increases ranging from 4 to 7.5%. Negotiations are continuing on the bonus pay with THAI offering 1 month and the workers wanting 2 months worth of pay as a bonus.

.

Edited January 19, 2013 by Buchholz

[londonthai]

departures not much affected, but arrivals up to 2h waiting for luggage

[Buchholz]

Didn't Thai make a whopping loss last year?

700 Million Baht GAIN

.

[Locationthailand]

Some interesting issues here of course.

1. Bonuses in Thailand work related are usually one month not two so why try claim for two? Did they miss out last year? Money for nothing and certainly not performance based, especially from baggage handlers.

2. If CPI is only seasonally adjusted then there should be no issue in compliance. But is is nowhere near 7%

3. Thai Airways has been losing reputation as a premiere carrier for ages, over priced, poor quality of maintenance inside aircraft, inflight service and quality of food.

4. The continuing 'fat cat' overpaid (mis)management and most likely a bit of corruption interwoven

5. Lastly the usual Union (global) issue of demands by threats.

If shareholders are looked after then staff also need to be. But if the issues are due to industrial threats and arrogance of management, then there will be a stalemate. The loser will always be the company and then of course, the shareholders. No easy solution here but if TA have orders in for gazillions of USD for new aircraft they better think of a good excuse to stop being held to ransom by staff who no doubt think if TA can afford the aircraft they can afford the staff.

[sjjmmi]

Sack them all waste of time