Well...truth coming from everywhere! Thought I would add-on to the confusion.
It all comes down to the basics of offer/demand. As someone already said, management will get away with as much cutting as they can, until either manpower and/or safety are compromised (already happening?). Fact is, pilots at EK are not queuing to leave by the masses, and THERE ARE bunches of colleagues willing to join in, qualified and not. Just a downside of being AN EMPLOYEE.
Everyone's situation is different. Some of us have a good job back home, some don't, some have good prospects with their present employer, some don't. What I want to get across is that EK it's not the best job in the planet (although mngmnt. seems to think so) nor the Only one in the planet, but it's not the worse either...if compared to some of our er...options! (not many).
For the guys inside: Bitching doesn't help a bit, and - in this case - neither does negotiating or writing nice letters. We are on our own, yeah, but we can also leave ANYTIME WE WANT, right?
For the guys OUTSIDE: Think about it carefully, weigh in ALL the feedback you can get from your pals in EK and compare it to YOUR situation, and no one else's.
Good luck!