wotwazat,
Very good post, and one of the reasons it does not work when the boot is on the other foot is quite simply that it does not suite them and I think that your point about SIA not being interested in saving money, but rather to be able to reduce the salaries and keep them reduced is spot on.
I did not know whether to laugh or cry at the comment in the Strait Times that SQ pilots are better paid than CX pilots, and even if we put those magic 3 letters, HKG, the reporter has failed to mention the pension that a CX pilot will get after 15 years service. That statement was simply a plain lie designed to further swing the public perception of the SQ pilots being overpaid!