" Dad Help! MOM's not helping!" ( ':P')
Hi Folks,
Here's the latest newsreport on the matter.Friend says : " Looks like Dad is finally getting to rule on the matter.The result seems to observers-see the news report- to be a foregone conclusion...". Hmmmm!
Have a pleasant evening
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http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/sto...93825,00.html?
JUNE 10, 2003
Now arbitration court to rule on SIA pay-cut row
Ministry's help not enough to get airline and pilots to settle dispute; both sides agree to give industrial court final say
By Rebecca Lee
TRANSPORT REPORTER
The wage dispute between Singapore Airlines (SIA) and its pilots will go before the Industrial Arbitration Court,
whose decision will be final and legally binding..
The parties are going for arbitration after four meetings over two weeks, and despite efforts by the Manpower Ministry to help at meetings held yesterday and on June 6.
'Despite efforts by the ministry to reach a negotiated settlement... no agreement could be reached as there was too wide a gap in the positions between the two parties,' the ministry said yesterday.
It advised them 'to resolve their differences through the process of arbitration', and SIA has agreed, citing the urgent need to resolve the matter.
At the heart of the disagreement is the quantum of the wage cut and the lump-sum payment offered to the pilots to make up for it, the ministry said.
'Given the severe business conditions affecting the company and the need to restructure wages to remain cost competitive, SIA felt strongly that it needed to urgently implement cost-cutting measures,' it added.
The airline lost $204 million in April as the Sars outbreak put people off travelling, and is expecting to make a first-quarter loss.
To stay viable and competitive, SIA wants, among other things, to reduce the basic wage of its captains by 22.5 per cent and the first officers, 15 per cent.
In response to the pilots' proposal that the cut be restored when business picks up, SIA offered a one-off payment if profits reach at least $700 million this financial year, ending March 31, 2004.
The Air Line Pilots' Association Singapore (Alpa-S), which represents 1,600 of SIA's 1,800 pilots, said the pay cut was too severe when coupled with the proposed implementation of between 10 and 12 days of no-pay leave every two months.
It wants a captain's basic pay cut by 12 per cent with six days of no-pay leave and first officers to get 7 per cent less with five days of no-pay leave.
On the one-off payment, it wants the profit level lowered to $350 million, the ministry said.
Alpa-S honorary secretary S. Sutharsanan told The Straits Times that SIA also could not assure pilots there would be no retrenchments.
It might still have to lay off 2 to 5 per cent of the pilots, he said. 'If after all these measures, the company cannot save jobs for our pilots, then there is no point,' he added.
SIA spokesman Rick Clements said with the move to the arbitration court, there was 'nothing more to add'.
The court is likely to use the recent National Wages Council recommendation as the basis for its decision. The council has, among other things, urged companies facing stiff competition and reduced profits to restructure their wages immediately, by moving away from fixed and seniority-based wages to one based on productivity and profit-sharing bonuses.
The airline industry is likely to fall in this category as airlines worldwide, facing losses, have shed some 100,000 jobs.
British Airways has shed 10,000 jobs and is looking at dropping another 3,000. Germany's Lufthansa has cut the work of its ground staff by 1.5 hours a week, to save up to US$20 million (S$34.7 million) a year.
Meanwhile, in Singapore, stock market analysts such as UOB Kay Hian's Peggy Mak welcomed the latest SIA development.
'With the Government's involvement, the wage cuts will likely be implemented,' she said.
SIA's shares yesterday closed 20 cents higher, at $10.70, with almost 1.8 million shares changing hands.