Hi Guys....
I recd a forwarded e-mail copy from an old pal which he has written to the Starits Times reporter who has been reporting on SIA and its pilots........
I thought this kind of letter to editor can never be published here, atleast the fellow PPruners can share it.
Quote
Dear Dominic,
I read your superb article on line today. I can't write as well as you can, so hope you won't mind if there are any mistakes. However, I would promise the accuracy of all the figures. What I fail to understand is that why your paper, ex CEO of SIA, labour chief Lim Boon Heng, DPM and PM have started this misinformation campaign against the pilots in SIA. As you would know that there are 2 kinds of pilots who are based in Singapore. One locals and others expatriate. Both are members of the union ALPAS. The expatriate are not allowed to vote in the union matters as per the guidelines. This means, the current dispute is the result of voting against the No Pay leave as desired by the SIA.
Firstly I fail to understand that all these distinguished persons and your paper have not highlighted this matter that these are the local Singaporean pilots only who are not helping the SIA in its so called tough times. Secondly an able journalist like you, in all fairness of the freedom of expression should have spoken to the spokesperson of ALPAS to have their viewpoint and publish it along with the management’s viewpoint. Whatever the ALPAS pilots are saying is also absolutely correct that why should they be forced to take No Pay Leave when an outside recruitment company’s pilots can be asked to save the jobs of the locals and there after if required these pilots will be ready to take the pay cut as taken by all the other employees of the SIA. Don’t forget this is the 2nd time these pilots are way off-course again within 9 months. Same pilots had willingly agreed for the pay cuts in view of the 911 and that year finally SIA made profit but the SIA still cut the pay of the employees.
Your esteemed paper and all these distinguished persons have made the managers of SIA a hero by taking a pay cut of 22.5% and the pilots of SIA are projected as villains. Let us examine the case of these pilots in little details. I feel when SIA has announced the 33% cut back in service because of poor demand; these pilots have already suffered about 20% cut in their take home pay on account of reduction in their variable component of pay i.e. Variable allowances (which the pilots get based on the flying done in a month). This means the managers are no heroes, pilots should also be considered in the same category.
If the pilots agree to the 12 days in two months No Pay Leave and 22.5% pay cut as taken by the other managers then there will be a total reduction of 50% in the take home pay of these recalcitrant pilots. However, what is projected to the public by your news paper while publishing the statements of all these distinguished persons of Singapore is that the SIA wants its pilots to take some pay cut to help SIA and the pilots are not agreeable to the same. This argument of SIA that overseas base pilots are cheaper so SIA can not ask them to go. This does not seem to be true as they are required for some other obvious reasons. If SIA is looking for cheaper pilots, it will be wise to sack all the local Singaporean senior pilots. As you will understand that over the last 20-30 years these pilots have been getting increments and there basic pay is twice that of the younger pilots doing the same job if not better. When it comes down chopping the head to save cost and help the airline then it should be expensive head to go first.
See it is very clear, if the SIA and the people in high places are patriotic and wants the locals to retain their jobs and suffer less with out any extra cost to SIA then the overseas base pilots should go out unless SIA has some other hidden agenda in keeping these overseas base pilots. If SIA an “ICON” of Singapore is only here to make billion dollars a year for its share holders i.e. government etc with out any social obligation then SIA needs to do serious cost cutting and restructure its work force, try and have as cheap labour as possible, be it the pilots or the managers or the directors. One example as I mentioned earlier is that SIA is having many senior pilots who are doing the same job for the company as the junior ones but SIA has to pay twice the amount of money to these senior ones as compared to the juniors. Keeping an expensive guy when a cheaper one is available for the same job make no economic sense for a company like SIA whose prime business is to make money and money only.
If you like it will be interesting to discuss the case studies of the approx. pay cut already experienced by the pilots as against the proposed one by the SIA.
Case No 1, when SIA was flying to full capacity in its 1 billion dollars profit days average local pilot flying about 70 hrs/month;
• Basic pay SGD 10,000
• Variable flying allowances SGD 2,800
• Meal reimbursement SGD 1,500
Therefore, total emoluments SGD 14,300
Case No. 2, when SIA has cut back 33% of services and there is no pay cuts or No Pay leave is agreed by its pilots, pilots are flying average of 30 hrs/month since SIA says it has 230 pilots surplus;
• Basic pay SGD 10,000
• Variable flying allowances SGD 1,200
• Meal reimbursement SGD 500
Therefore, total emoluments SGD 11,700
Case No. 3, if pilots agree to the No Pay Leave and 22.5% pay cut as taken by other managers, with this there will be cut of SGD 2,250 in the basic pay and SGD 2,000 reduction in basic pay because of the 6 days a month No Pay Leave;
• Revised basic pay SGD 5,750
• Variable flying allowance SGD 960 ( as 6 day a months pilot will not be flying)
• Meal reimbursement SGD 320
Therefore, total emoluments SGD 7,030
The above mathematics is self explanatory that where as the villains in the company have already suffered a 19% reduction in their earnings before even heroes of the company have taken the pay cuts. Mind it this proposed No Pay leave can be increased if the SARS situation does not improve and SIA has proved its credibility about restoring any pay cut last year that even after making the profit the employees were continued on the reduced pay.
I have heard, seen and read in LKY’s “MY Singapore Story” a lot about the press freedom and freedom of expression in your island state, I have also seen how the public opinion is swung by the misinformation and disinformation by the distinguished persons in the high places in Singapore. Let me hope that you will be able to contact the ALPAS representatives and get their side of story along with the SIA management’s. Hope you would try and put the record straight with your next article, if there does any freedom of expression exist.
At last you would be interested in knowing about me. I am retired from the airline and settled here in UK when I could not tolerate any more.
Regards
I have intentionally removed his name, you all understand why???????