Hang In here Trashed Aviator!
Trashed Aviator,
I understand your reasons for not wanting to slide back in your career progression and accept a Second Officer position here at Cathay. Cathay are aware that this is a problem for them in that they cannot get people like you to join as a Second Officer, or as a Freighter First Officer on the deal they are offering at the moment. They could attract guys in the past when there was a glut of pilots, but the market has now tightened up. They are missing out on really good recruits at a time when they really need them!
What Cathay proposes is to make a Direct Entry First Officer (DEFO) stream available to guys like you, but they don't want to pay the money that they currently pay First Officers on the Passenger Fleet, or have to deal with Bypass Pay issues for Second Officers here in Cathay.
They want to pay you less for doing the same job, and carrying the same responsibilities, as almost every other First Officer currently serving on the passenger fleet in Cathay. And there are other degradations in Conditions of Service (CoS) they would like to bring in at the same time such as leave and basings restrictions. See my thread on the hot oil for these details.
Trashed Pilot, I will not vote to allow the Company to offer you these reduced pay scales and Conditions of Service. I would like to welcome you to Cathay on the same terms the majority of the rest of us enjoy.
It is important to realise that DEFO can still happen under existing CoS. I hope the rest of the pilots here at Cathay feel the same way and vote the deal down.