IMHO...All this sign a new contract,or be terminated stuff, is not new.
I saw it forced on the Gulf Air expat pilots in August 1976.
At the same time the Pilots Local Council (union) was also terminated, together with the provident fund and the companies contributions to it.
Then a memo was sent to all pilots by the British Ops manager Mr. xxxx which said "Pilot goodwill and cooperation was neither desirable nor required, Gulf Air was an Arab Airline and Arab pilots would be promoted if available, or short term type qualified contract Captains hired until they were."
Expat FO morale was lowered slightly,career goals adjusted!!
Mr xxx privately informed the ex RAF, Gulf Air VC10 fleet contract pilots, that there was to be a new seniority list created, and this would be in the order of the pilot "New Contract" signatures he received, this new list would control the sequence of pilots to be trained on the next lot of new L1011 due to arrive.
He joked to me, "I nearly died on day one in the RAF rats rush to be first to sign."
The lads were later, upset to find Mr xxx had not told the truth about this.
He also let it be known to all pilots that the security police had the names, passport numbers, and addresses of the pilot local council members, this was actually true,as they had this information on every employed expat on the island as SOP.
Needless to say, he was ordered to do these things or he would have lost his job, and importantly it was known he could not afford to let that happen.
His re employment chances were actually not that good in the UK, where we were told, he had last been employed as ops manager,where he lost a heavy 4 engine aircraft, loaded with pax in 1973.
He told me several years later "Ops. managers are also required to do things they do not wish to do, just like you pilots will."
Mrxxx was thus the ideal management candidate to be employed to sort the expat pilots union power, as he had no place left to go.
The seeds were thus sown for the future of Gulf Air airline management pilot relationships, and flowing from this not exactly text book HRM start,produced todays Gulf Air.
Present Cathay management IMHO will not be present to conduct their accident enquiry, and neither is the late Mr xxx.
As the bosses son said.....
"Father forgive them for they know not what they do."