Different Positions
The non-pilot trade union in Korean Air stated on June 21 that the pilot labor union in the company that recently filed a petition against Hanjin Group chairman Jo Yang-ho did so groundlessly and could jeopardize the company.
The pilot labor union has been engaged in industrial action since February this year, demanding a pay increase of no less than 37% with an increasing number of Chinese airlines trying to attract members of the union. To achieve their goal, the pilots are putting pressure on the company by means of the petition, claiming that the chairman and his family members be subject to tax and unfair trade investigations. In the meantime, the non-pilot trade union, which has about 12,000 members, agreed on a 1.9% increase in December last year.
The average annual salary of the pilots is estimated at 140 million won, much higher than the average of the non-pilot workers. The pilot labor union began to collect its 1,200 or so members’ signatures on June 13 with regard to the petition with the management opposed to its demand. The other pilot trade union in Korean Air, which has approximately 700 members, also remarked on June 20 that the petition is contradictory to the benefit of Korean Air workers as a whole.