C.O.S 08 - You're kidding me

[BScaler]

CoS 08

westcoastcapt

You wrote:

Let's remember that those who joined in April 93 said they would do our jobs for less money. And those who joined ASL in 95 said they would again do the same job for even lesser money.

The sole reason that this new offer proposes 55+ at the same salary is because there is not a line up to accept the present offer at reduced salaries. Plain and simple! And they need these pilots if they wish to expand.

I must respectfully take issue with what you wrote and put forward a B-Scale perspective on this one.

Firstly, B-Scalers that accepted employment, joined on that deal because that was all that was on offer at the time. The reason that was all that was on offer was because the AOA GC representing the Cathay aircrew body at the time, allowed the Company to introduce them in return for a promise that A-Scales, as they became known, would remain untouched. A false promise as it turned out.

Secondly, the reality is that there are A-Scale colleagues of ours, as we speak, accepting less than B-Scale conditions on which to extend. A-Scale colleagues who do so, accept it because this is all that is on offer at this time.

The contrast between the two points, is that B-Scales have been in existence for 14 years without reaching the level of A-Scales, (and I am just talking remuneration here, not the plethora of other better conditions, the most significant being the A-Scale Provident Fund), whereas those A-Scale colleagues that have extended on less than B-Scales, will remarkably have their A-Scale salaries reinstated and be allowed to work an extra 10 years.

Can you see the disparity here, see the logic that makes it so, and sense the disbelief of the B-Scale community on appreciating this? The divisiveness that this creates, inevitably leads to some heated outbursts on the subject. This illustrates my point, when I say that we should strive for unity for the future.

Accepting a DEFO agreement along the lines of that which is proposed, would be to open up a similar can of worms in later years. If the Company wants to ditch ASL and take advantage of the synergies that a greater pool of pilots would create, then new joiner DEFOs, passenger or freighter, should join on passenger terms. Existing freighter captains and FOs should transfer to passenger terms. Precedent exists, since this is what used to happen before the creation of ASL when Cathay aircrew flew both passenger and freighter aircraft. We should not be made to pay for a mess that the Company created in the first place.

Accepting extensions to A-Scales, (especially bearing in mind from a B-Scaler’s point of view, that the package allows for comfortable retirement at age 55), to the probable detriment of junior colleagues’ promotion prospects, and without any protection along these lines, is not helpful.

There is a long way to go as far as what will happen with CoS 08 itself. But as I have said before, if we can walk a mile in each others shoes and understand each others position, then we will have a better chance of attaining something we can all live with, and hopefully it will result in an agreement structured toward unification for the good of all of us and the future aircrew body.

BScaler