Speed Alt*,
I think you are missing the point. The issue is not the EPC which is a great organization run by pilots for pilots. Nor is it the food on board or the pick up by a car. Emirates has been advertising for good quality pilots, engineers etc saying that they are an employer of choice, and employer for lifetime able and willing to be above average and caring and commited to the development and wellbeing of its assets, its people. You do not have to take my word for it, watch the great DVD they pass around or read the interviews the bosses give to varoius magazines around the world. They have recruited all this talent, created high expectations, and now they are not delivering the promissed behaviour or the promissed caring and proactive management they said they would be practising. It is not our fault that we are upset, they recruited the wrong type of people if they wanted us to sit down and shut up. If they wanted to be average they should have recruited average guys, then there would be no problem. You cannot expect though in any free market that you will hire above average work force, expect above average performance and then provide below average behaviour. It is not just the money issue, it is their complete disregard for what they have signed. My contract has changed in the last two years so many times without my concent, but always to "my benefit" or at most "cost neutral for the company" which is a joke. Every time they find a problem they have created, they solve it by changing the rules. A five year old can do that.
We all came here because we were promissed the world, we were promissed to be part of a great aviation comapny in its making. We all realize that we are here to help Dubai achieve its dreams but we are not slaves, nor are we only here for them. We bring in our talents, provide hard work and expect not only a decent salary for the inconvenience of leaving home but also good working conditions. I am not afraid of hard work, I have done my fair share in EZ, but at least it was legal and regulated. Here we have been flying upto 150 hours unfactorized which is not only unsustainable hard work, it is also ilegal and dangerous. But hey if you think about it is in our interest both in the short term and in the long term. The great management team have realized that if you are always working you do not have the time to spend your money thus a pairise not needed, and if you die early because of all this hard work you do not need to worry about retirement and old age. See it is in "our benefit again."
Management raised the total hours required for a command upgrade from 4000 to 6000 they raised the hours for the accelerate command from 6000 to 8000 all in the name of safety, but yet seem not to care about fatigue and its safety implications.
We are all working here in detriment to our future, both for our health and financial. Those of us who realize that a nice lifstyle on the beach through the EPC is not enough are starting to vote with our feet. We all have choices, it just takes effort on our part. You can either wait around for crums from EK or you can do something about it.
The end of April is just around the corner and we shall see what the future holds for us. Anything less than 18% increase in pay (3% a year and 15% announced by the government) would be a joke, and 7-8 weeks of profit share is what they should give us as next year's increase in salaries should be reflected in next years profit share and not this one's. If have been around enough though to realize that this will not happen and although I was at Trader Vick's last night I am still sobber enough to realize fantasy from reality.
EPC has no discount at Trader's though so I did not benefit from any great discounts.....
Keep Discovering
By the way I was speaking to one of the guys in the know regarding no shows and he said that out of the 34 pilots who have not shown up for their 777 course 14 were from Malaysia. It is not just the Europeans who are not coming, it is also good sensible people from other regions around the world who can see the truth behind the lines.
Off to work again..