Hi,
I'm an expat captain in SIA.And the purpose of this thread is to get as many of us together under a single forum so as to positively identify the employement issues which directly affect our daily lives today and those that are
SURE to affect our lives in the very near future.
A couple of days ago,we were informed by management that compulsory no paid leave was inevitable.So as to avoid any retrenchments.We have also been told somewhere along the line that the first to go(read 'retrenched')would obviously be the expat captain,followed by the
PR captain and then(
IF required)the local captain! Now here's the tricky part.What's on the table right now from the mamnagment is 3 days Cnpl for ALL captains.This, to a great degree, pushes the prospects of retrenchments(in the order stated above)back by a whole lot of weeks/months.Numbers aren't very important here,but 3 days Cnpl per captain reduces the chances of retrenchments for all the others by a very very large percent.This....as per Capt.GY(SVP) himself.I for one would take the Cnpl hands down if it reduces my chances of getting the pink slip.
Now comes the fun part.Our union,ALPA-S seems to think otherwise.That is,if line pilots take 3 days Cnpl,then the additional "left over" hours would be split amongst who else but the managment.Effectively,making a gain for the managment at the cost of the line pilot.With this very weak argument,it seems they've managed to get some kind of a critical mass to back up this hypothesis.Here's what
really will happen.....we refuse Cnpl,retrenchments begin(with expats to go first!),50-80% expat pilots are retrenched, which looks after the 200 odd surplus pilots at present and who do we have left home free to share the bonuses when the company does better....???!! The locals and the
PR's who ironically,are currently running the show at ALPA-S anyways.That also makes room for "further talks"on wage negs with managment later,since 'we from Alpa were oh sooo helpful during your time of crisis!' Just a small detail here.Our expat bretheren aren't here to share the bonuses nor the wage hikes we're getting.Why...??? CAUSE YOU FIRED THEM LAH........!!!!
Now that's how my little mind reads the writing on the wall la.Anybody(especially genuine expat captains),with ANY other input,please feel free to pool in.We have another meet with Capt GY tomorrow,followed by a "Makan" session immediately after, from ALPA-S,in order to discuss the Cnpl(which is sure as fire going to be tabled by GY tomorrow).Why do I have this sick feeling in my gut that our Alpa secretary/president are gonna wholly and soully oppose this move by managment and 'convince' our colleagues that this Cnpl is absolutely NOT the right way to go.....
.
And then the expat heads will roll.What say ye all yonder.All expat(and otherwise)inputs welcome.....
And the swine flu hasn't helped either.
My two krunos worth...
