Earlier this month, a local court in Sichuan Province heard
evidence in a combined suing and countersuing between an airline
and one of its pilots, a case that has been seen as indicative of
problems involved in state-trained pilots leaving for jobs with new
private air companies.
The court in Shuangliu County, near Chengdu, capital of the
southwestern province, said on July 6 that it would announce its
ruling on an unspecified future date because the case was
complicated and the first of its kind in the country.
The current legal action began in March, when Southwestern
Airlines, a branch of Air China and one of the biggest state-owned
airlines in the country, brought a lawsuit against Li Jianguo
demanding 8 million yuan (US$967,000) compensation for leaving his
post.
Since the opening up of private investment in civil aviation,
dozens of experienced pilots from state-owned airlines have
resigned for better paid jobs in private airlines.
Li Jianguo signed a contract with Southwestern in November 1996
after retiring from the Air Force. Last October 14, Li proffered
his resignation and, unable to negotiate a new deal with the
airline, left his post at the end of the month.?
To block his departure, Southwestern demanded more than 8
million yuan (US$967,000) compensation. Sun, an information
official from the company, said this included 478,300 yuan
(US$58,000) to pay them back for his training and other
expenditure, as well as compensation for breaking his contract.
Li countered with a demand for 60,000 yuan (US$7,200) in
allowances and 110,000 yuan (US$13,300) housing subsidy that he
said he was still owed, as well as return of his documentation.
On February 28, Southwestern took the dispute to the local labor
administration agency for arbitration. They ruled that Li should
pay 3.38 million yuan (US$407,000) to the company, but neither the
airline nor Li accepted this.
On March 9, the airline filed their case with the local court,
and Li did the same two days later.
Zhu Xuejun, Li's lawyer, said his contract was unfair because
its compensation terms violate State Labor Law. He said
compensation from employees for breaking a contract should be no
more than 12 months' wages.
According to Zhu, Li received total wages of 600,000 yuan
(US$72,000) in the years that he worked for Southwestern.?
Sun said Li should have understood the contract when he signed
it, and that pilots moving to private firms should cover
state-funded training to prevent loss of "state-owned assets."
Another two Southwestern pilots who have handed in their
resignations face similar claims for compensation.
Since July, the General Administration of Civil Aviation of
China (CAAC) has approved five private airlines.
(China.org.cn by Wang Zhiyong, July 20, 2005)