Originally Posted by
Blue Bag Bitch
Can someone explain to me how it suddenly becomes legal to violate the LIFO clause in our contract, if we don't sign this thing. Let me get it straight. You sign, no LIFO. You don't sign, no LIFO. If you're a 777 pilot, you're literally signing (or not signing) your job away in either case. So why on earth would you sign this?
Mostly because people get scared and when they do they buy into crap to try to cling to a portion of what they used to have.
In the HKG arena (which isn't necessarily the case elsewhere) it comes down to enforceability. CAN you recover damages for a termination based on a scam to get rid of a seniority based layoff system (as well as the 6 month pay protection)--simply changing it to a two step process (a person isn't directly laid off on the old contract where LIFO applies -- he is forced to transition to a NEW contract and THEN laid off at will where LIFO doesn't apply; and when this happens he also forfeits the original pay protected six months) ? Dunno. In most developed nations this would be seen to be what it actually is by a third party who'd adjudicate it accordingly (especially after a company refused government stimulus with the specific intent of altering an existing in-force contract). Which is why most carriers in those nations don't do this (instead having some form of early out package for force reduction as well as negotiating an amendment to their contract which might provide a time period to go at reduced capacity/pay while preserving seniority and everything else. And if layoffs are required beyond this doing so IAW the contract with the associated recall rights).
What I suspect most in HKG are doing is believing (rightly or wrongly) that it won't happen to THEM and that they'll at least get something out of the deal. Looking at the shiny transition period (where they might get some continued income and housing) without realizing that could end abruptly too. Is it the right choice ? Depends on the individual. I would hope they're weighing the negative aspects of living under the conditions they are (with time and opportunities elsewhere that aren't recoverable; those opportunities perhaps being there albeit perhaps in a different career field) with the uncertainty they inject into their lives by choosing to sign over.