Most of you chaps are completely misguided in your anger toward EK management. They are no different from management in any airline around the world. The difference is the laws of the land you have chosen to live in. The same laws that give you your tax free salary, cheap maids, cheap cars, cheap fuel and expat lifestyle.
It would appear that by acceptance, most of you approve of the exploited labor that builds your villa's and cleans them for you, cleans your car, serves you at Spinneys etc, but when it is your turn to be kicked in the nuts it is unacceptable.
As can be demonstrated by the issues raised at United, management in first world countries would be doing the same if it were not for the laws of those countries that give workers rights, and allow them to stand up for them without persecution.
I find it amusing that some on this forum who accepted the poisoned chalice of EK are rooting for airlines in other countries to force better conditions in the UAE. You probably have no real idea how ludicrous it sounds to outsiders when someone who is not prepared to fight their own battles expects someone else to do it for them.
I have done my time at Emirates and now spend my time fighting for better conditions with the support of unions, equitable labor laws and my colleagues. My management is no different from yours, it is just that I can sit across the table from mine and hold them accountable when they do something that is not consistent with our contracts. I can also lobby the government for changes if necessary and I pay a high price for that privilege in the form of tax.
So if you are not happy with the laws of your adopted country, give up your tax free lifestyle and return to the first world but please stop deluding yourselves that you are any different from the man in blue overalls picking up the rubbish on the beach. All workers in the UAE are a resource to be exploited. You guys are just some of the higher paid ones.