Garuda’s Local Pilots Warn of Strike Over Pay
The Garuda Indonesia Pilots Association on Tuesday refused to back down from its threat to go on strike over its demand for equal pay for local and foreign pilots.
“We love Garuda, we love Indonesians,” said Isays U. Sampesule, from the association known as the APG. “We are in a strategic industry and the strike will threaten the country’s economy, but we will do that if the company doesn’t respond to our calls.”
Its demands center on alleged discriminatory salaries at the state carrier, where foreign pilots are reportedly paid about double their local counterparts.
“A foreign first officer receives as much as $7,200 [a month], which includes accommodation benefits; a captain receives $10,200 including benefits. Compare this to the salary of a [local] first officer, which is Rp 43 million [$5,030],” Isays said.
He said that at Garuda, pilots needed to work 15 to 20 years as first officers before being promoted to the rank of captain.
“It often happens that our captains have to fly with foreign first officers on a higher salary. The captain bears all the risks and responsibilities, he is the one who makes the final call, but yet he is paid less,” Isays said. “This is not logical.”
He said Garuda employed 40 foreign pilots out of a total of 850 to 900 pilots. “The airline has to hire expatriates because the industry is booming and local aviation schools cannot supply enough skilled pilots to meet demand,” he said.
Jeffrey Ticoalu, from the APG’s industrial division, told the Jakarta Globe that the association had unsuccessfully sought a meeting with Garuda management since April.
“First, they said they were too busy to meet us. We sent another letter in May and the executive director finally agreed to see us on June 28,” Jeffrey said.
However, the pilots were disappointed as it was the operational director, rather than his superior, who attended the meeting.
“He also told us that even though he represented the executive director, the decision was not in his hands,” Jeffrey said.
Said Damanik, a lawyer for the APG, said the association had given the company two weeks to respond to its demands: a more equal policy on the rights and duties of local and expatriate pilots and for the executive director of Garuda and its commissioners to meet with pilots.
“If they fail, then we will take further steps according to the industrial law,” he said.
Garuda’s president, Emirsyah Satar, defended the pay policy, denying it was discriminatory.
“Foreign pilots are contract employees, while local pilots are permanent staff. If we calculate it as a whole [including insurance, pension and other entitlements], their salaries are more or less the same,” he said.
Garuda spokesman Pujobroto said pilot recruitment was necessary to keep up with Garuda’s growth goals.
“All airline companies are expanding at the moment, and Garuda has a plan to make a quantum leap in 2015,” Pujobroto said. “So, in line with the target, we will increase the volume of flights and recruit more pilots from flight academies.”
However, he said, new pilots would still require additional training in order to get commercial licenses and ratings needed to fly Garuda’s planes.
“The training process would take between three and six months, and in the meantime, we need additional pilots. That’s why we hire contract pilots,” he said. “Their contract period is usually only for a year.”