I guess any day now the ST will be running the other side of the story when it prints the rebuttals of the various unions! Anyone holding their breath?
Straits Times, 19 July 2004
SIA medical benefits excessive: minister
Most of the airline's staff enjoy A-Class hospital perks which are not in line with industry norms, says Ng Eng Hen
By Soh Wen Lin
WHILE Singapore Airlines' generous employee benefits are well-known, Acting Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen yesterday highlighted key areas where they had become what he called 'excessive and unsustainable'.
For example, about 85 per cent of the airline's workforce of about 29,000 enjoy A-Class hospital benefits and there is no cap on both their medical and retrenchment benefits.
This is 'out of line with all other companies' as well as the guidelines of the tripartite taskforce, said Dr Ng.
His comments on these features of SIA's benefits come on the heels of labour chief Lim Boon Heng's statement last week that the Manpower Ministry had been approached to aid wage negotiations for a new collective agreement between SIA and the pilots' union.
Dr Ng was speaking at a dialogue with 200 residents in the Admiralty ward of Sembawang GRC.
SIA's seniority-based wage system cannot continue in the long run although employees may prefer it to stay unchanged, said the minister.
The benefits, he added, must be brought in line with the industry: 'Benefits such as these are disproportionate and excessive.'
Dr Ng said his ministry will use the tripartite guidelines as benchmarks during the talks as SIA needs to restructure its costs, 'not just for this year, but for the long haul'.
The tripartite guidelines - as agreed by Government, unions and management - include a 25-year cap for retrenchment benefits and having a variable component in wages.
Dr Ng also dwelt on the new challenges confronting SIA, including low-cost carriers, emerging air-hub rivals and long-haul planes.
'If SIA can offer non-stop flights from Singapore to New York, certainly Australia can offer flights to Europe, skipping Singapore, for example,' he said.
'These changes will persist for the next five, 10, 15 years.'
And what happens in Singapore's air hub and aviation industry, which contributes 9 per cent to Singapore's output and 120,000 jobs, trickles down to the tourism, retail and aerospace industries, he added.
'So not just SIA, but the civil aviation authority, ST Aerospace, terminal services, ST Engineering, all must adjust.'
He said that the SIA union leaders he had spoken to said that they understood the challenges and recognised the need for sometimes painful changes.
Now the 'union leaders must explain to their members why the changes are necessary', he said. 'And management must continue to work with unions to forge trust.'
He acknowledged that employees would find it hard to give up their benefits.
However, the stakes are high, with other countries and companies watching closely, he said, urging SIA to demonstrate that it was willing to take decisive steps.
Another issue raised at the dialogue was over jobs. Dr Ng explained why Singaporeans may still be struggling even amid the economic recovery.
He said that between 1987 and 1997 Singapore created three new jobs for every graduate, but the next five tough years put a squeeze on everyone and some skills were made obsolete.
So although jobs and growth were returning this year, it would take another few good years to make up for the last five years, especially when some workers have had to reskill themselves.
The dialogue capped a four-hour visit to the Admiralty ward.
During the visit, Dr Ng and several MPs, including the ward's MP, Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman, whipped up a range of dishes for a food auction that raised $31,000 for charity.
Soya sauce maker Choo Wai Luen topped the bids by paying $10,000 for a plate of vegetarian satay cooked by Dr Ng, and $8,000 for Mr Maliki's pineapple fried rice.
The managing director of Kwong Cheong Thye said with a smile when asked about his expensive taste: 'It's okay. It's for charity.'