Mana:
Your pilot workforce is western. Flying was invented in the west. So was The Queen's English. So is most of current global contract law. In order to obtain legitimate entry in to the world of finance, even the DIFC operates under the British Legal System. This is noteworthy and important, as it shows the high regard placed on such a system. Sadly, our contracts do not fall under this jurisdiction. This is however advantageous for EK.
You may parse that contract changes don't qualify as illegal changes here under UAE Law. You are naive in the extreme to expect a professional workforce of pilots to be happy with forced reversions in terms and conditions at the whim of company management. No one likes to go backwards. Legal or not.
You are posting to attempt to correct some perception that you have that the posts on this forum are innaccurate. Again, you are mistaken. Emirates Airlines pilots are attempting to correct certain misperceptions in the market about this carrier and its treatment of its employees so that prosepctive employees will either be giving consideration, or perhaps even come to EK, armed with facts and truths that these individuals wish they were armed with upon thier entering in to the employ of this company. There is certainly more than a little frustration with the sleight of hand management style. We like to be honest and we expect the same in kind.
A fair day's wage for a fair day's work. That, by tradition has been around 65-80 hours per month, varying a bit depending on the type of operation. When a carrier posts a 406 million USD profit (2008 fiscal year, not the 268 million someone mistakenly quoted earlier), and doesn't give anything back to the employees, instead altering the 'de-facto' conditions of service without consultation then the company is going to face some public outcry.
The internet is a powerful tool. It has suplanted cordial relations between the pilot workforce and management and that genie isn't going back in the bottle. You have pushed us beyond our reasonable limits and a reasonable man is going to fight back with the tools - the only tool he has. That is this forum and I endorse it wholeheartedly as the last stand for pilots at this company.
Your even tempered tone belies the futility of your endeavor.
My loyalty to this company is only as valid as the paper it was written on - and that has been demonstrated to be as whimsical, manipulative, coy and disengenuous as you are.
Don't grow a wish-bone where you should have a backbone.