From the Tiger web site:
“With such a simple contract, we intend to talk to you and your colleagues directly about all your welfare issues. Of course, you remain free to join any professional body of your choice.”
What this euphemistic blurb actually means is that as there will not be any Company recognition of collective representation for the “Tiger” pilot force, the individuals will be at the mercy of any unilaterally imposed change (reduction, that is!) in the remuneration package.
If any of you aspirant ingénues out there imagine that after signing a “contract” with the start-up, this could not happen to you in the time it takes for a tiger to fart, please take a look through the various SIA threads posted so far and in particular note that the former SIA Singapore Provident Fund (a cornerstone of the ex-pat “contract”) has recently disappeared into thin air with the cursory wording, in true Marie Antoinette "let them eat cake" style, of the SIA Senior VP Human Resources, “I believe you should also be aware of the threats posed by the budget and other carriers competing on the Company’s routes and the first ever loss of S$312 million in the quarter April to June 2003 suffered by the Company” as both a justification for this peremptory and unilateral move and an epitaph for the Fund.
As it happens, Alpa-S is still pursuing the matter. How would “Tiger” pilots be able to handle a similar situation whilst being held to the letter of their part of the “contract” and obliged to serve out their bonded time at the Company’s leisure?