Hmmmm ... improvements???
Let us just watch the desperate in our midst rush to sign up for what I believe is likely to be announced, which will be a "commuting roster".
It may well only be available for those who choose to jump to the sinking ship of POS18. A nominal positive may be the intention to "normally" roster 2 to 3 periods of days, with periods between flights of 2-7 days. However this will have the small print of "as amended by the company" as their get out clause for when you don't subsequently get what you thought you'd signed over to POS18 for. Of course they will avoid the Australian LSL issue, and their labour protections, by keeping you administratively based in hk, so that they can equally revert such folk back to full hk base if it doesn't work for the company. As for taxation, prepare for the "taxation is an officers own responsibility" statement. This will be based on high priced taxation consultants advice, and we all know how reliable that has been in the past, with individuals left to mop up the mess caused by you know who. For those naive enough to think because they are remaining hk based and thereby out of the clutches of foreign tax departments, they are best advised to get their OWN advice. Such opinion is likely to dissapoint many. Anecdotally, one South African gentleman has already approached the ATO through his Australian accountant with a "what if..." scenario, and been advised he'll be classed as a tax resident of Australia under such a commuting scheme, but with credit for tax paid in hk.
As for what you'll have to give up in hk, this could be anything from ARAPA, housing, hkpa, schooling, travel etc depending on what COS/POS you are on, with a likelihood of most of your duty accommodation being in crappy Asian outport hotels, with the odd night in the headland the night you arrive in hk and the night before you go back to your commuting port.
Alternatively, ............ just hold the line.
Dont rush to take what in all probability will be a woeful offer.
They know it saves money having crew on bases. But if no one takes the bottom of the barrel commuting offer, there's a far better chance that bases will be re-offered.
What will be sad is if there is a stampede to sign up for such a poor deal.
We all know that you can't put an old head on young shoulders, and that you can't reason with stupid.
Lets not be our own worst enemies.