Global Nomad wrote:
"A short reply to some other less salubrious comments
1) A bonus is just that."
I actually agree with you but two years ago, our dearly departed HOFO wrote to us stating that our 3% + 2% + profit share actually added up to a generous 12.5% pay rise over the previous year.
Employing the same logic (the company's, not mine), we have actually taken a pay cut over the previous year. That during a time that the company "is making record profits" and even the government is admitting that the rising cost of living deserves some recompense.
At the end of the day, our compensation should be determined by supply and demand. What has annoyed many of us is that when the standard Emirates package for pilots was not enough to attract Direct Entry Captains, (a sign that they are not paying "market rates") they raised the package for new captains and completely ignored those of us who have been loyal employees here for a number of years. When we voiced our dismay, we were told that we were lazy and didn't deserve what we were already getting. Next, the company imposed a unilateral change in our terms and conditions stating that it was a cost neutral adjustment. I don't know too many people for whom it has not been a pay reduction. This on top of an imposed increase in productivity of questionable legality and with obvious safety implications.
At every airline that I have ever worked at, there has been some resentment of flight crew, some of which, we might even have brought on ourselves. What I have never seen before is a company that so indulges that resentment through its policies and management (or lack thereof). In the end, if the company does not do something to address these issues, then over time people will leave. They have begun to leave much sooner than I would have thought and barring any change, that will continue. Additionally, spaces in new hire classes are going unfilled. With airplanes coming, Emirates is going to have to weigh up the costs of continuing as before versus making some changes.
The really bizarre part of all of this is that for years, the company seemed to recognize those intangible issues that cost little but generated good will and kept people coming. They extracted their pound of flesh but not to the ridiculous lengths that we have seen recently. If someone flew his allotted 85 hours and was able to squeeze a few days off in here or there, well that was okay. Now, there is such a frenzy to cut costs, that common sense has been thrown out of the window. Managers are purely worried about their own budgets with little regard to the impact on the company overall. As long as they save Dh 5, they don't care if their action actually costs the company 10. As long as it comes out of someone else's budget. This whole time factoring fiasco has the potential to cost this company a lot more than it initially saved.
As far as your remark that if we don't like it we should leave. Don't worry, that's exactly what will happen, but it won't happen overnight. Most of us will watch developments, float our CV's and when the right job comes along, will weigh it up against what we have here and make a business decision. One thing that I can tell you is that the company has forfeit any loyalty that might be entered into that equation. Only time will tell if they have been needlessly careless or shrewd businessmen.