Divide et impera
I strongly feel that most pilots, too myopic or selfish to see past their own little patch of garden, fail to see one big truth: what is apparently only good for another group of pilots is often good for ALL OF US in the long run. If EK give their pilots a big payrise, in the long run this is good for CX pilots too, as CX will eventually have to match or exceed their offer in order to attract quality candidates, SQ then has to follow suit etc.
Without moving out of CX, getting THE FULL housing package (albeit after a qualifying period) for LEP/CEPs (and KEEPING IT for based guys returning to HK for ANY reason) is a GOOD thing for all of us. Firstly because for once we will be on the offensive with the airline with respect to T&Cs, as opposed to being on the defensive as we usually are (plus it is a winnable battle, as for once HK media/public opinion would probably back us).
Secondly because it will not allow CX to divide and conquer us in the future as they have done time and again: " don't worry guys we won't touch YOUR housing, we'll just screw all new joiners/based guys, but you'll be alright Jack". Of course as time goes by, CX only hires the new cheaper "local terms" pilots and before you know it Jack is in the minority: "sorry Jack but no payrise for you, the younger guys are so much cheaper..." and "sorry Jack but the only way we can afford to give you a payrise too is if you give up your housing..." and furthermore, "hey you based guys, sorry but we're closing all the bases and moving you all back to HK, too complicated to have all these bases, and anyway it will cost us the same to have you here in HK now that we got rid of housing..."
Whether it is FAIR for CEP/LEPs to have housing is quite beyond the point. The point is improving conditions for some of our fellow pilots so that maybe this time Jill gets a better contract, but next time it will be Jack's turn (as opposed to screwing Jill this time, because guess what: next time it will be Jack's turn).
The wise response is not, "oh hey, that's not fair: in this case I should get housing on my base too", but rather, "hmm, I think I'll support this: once we obtain it, the next step could be getting some sort of housing allowance for based guys as well".
In short, anytime anything can be gained for any part of our pilot body, I will support it, even if it is not immediately beneficial to me. The childish "if I can't have it then I don't want him to have it either" mantra, quite aside from being childish, DOESN'T WORK.
Rant over.