Wirraway
30th Jun 2003, 13:17
Dow Jones
Monday June 30, 12:11 PM (S/Pore)
SIA, pilots broker deal to end pay dispute
Singapore Airlines' pilots have agreed to take pay cuts of up to 16.5 percent in a deal with management that was put forward to the Independent Arbitration Commission (IAC) here, both sides said.
Captains will have their salaries slashed by 16.5 percent and first officers will lose 11 percent of their pay, union and management officials told the opening of an IAC hearing Monday that was set up to end the dispute.
The pilots have also agreed to take up to two days of no-pay leave a month.
The agreement, which both sides urged the IAC to ratify in a hearing on July 5, was a compromise from SIA management's initial demands for a 22.5 percent wage cut for captains and 15 percent for first officers.
Management had also wanted the pilots to take between 10 and 12 days of unpaid leave.
The Air Line Pilots Association-Singapore (ALPA-S), which represents 1,600 of the carrier's 1,800 pilots, had fiercely resisted the cuts, saying the package would slash salaries by as much as 50 percent.
With negotiations deadlocked, the government announced on June 10 that the dispute would be sent to the IAC for resolution.
However, spokesmen for the ALPA-S and management said at the start of the hearing on Monday that they had reached the in-principle agreement on Friday night.
"I would like to take this opportunity to extend the company's appreciation to the leadership (of ALPA-S) for their support, understanding and co-operation in working out this agreement," SIA human resources senior vice president Loh Meng See told the IAC.
SIA was one of the world's most profitable airlines before the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome brought regional travel to a near-halt.
The company this month retrenched 414 ground staff to stem losses of six million dollars a day through April and May, when SARS was at its peak, and warned that pilots might also be axed.
======================================
Pic: Singapore Airlines 777-200 9V-SRF
http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=85665
Pic: Wirraway
======================================
Monday June 30, 12:11 PM (S/Pore)
SIA, pilots broker deal to end pay dispute
Singapore Airlines' pilots have agreed to take pay cuts of up to 16.5 percent in a deal with management that was put forward to the Independent Arbitration Commission (IAC) here, both sides said.
Captains will have their salaries slashed by 16.5 percent and first officers will lose 11 percent of their pay, union and management officials told the opening of an IAC hearing Monday that was set up to end the dispute.
The pilots have also agreed to take up to two days of no-pay leave a month.
The agreement, which both sides urged the IAC to ratify in a hearing on July 5, was a compromise from SIA management's initial demands for a 22.5 percent wage cut for captains and 15 percent for first officers.
Management had also wanted the pilots to take between 10 and 12 days of unpaid leave.
The Air Line Pilots Association-Singapore (ALPA-S), which represents 1,600 of the carrier's 1,800 pilots, had fiercely resisted the cuts, saying the package would slash salaries by as much as 50 percent.
With negotiations deadlocked, the government announced on June 10 that the dispute would be sent to the IAC for resolution.
However, spokesmen for the ALPA-S and management said at the start of the hearing on Monday that they had reached the in-principle agreement on Friday night.
"I would like to take this opportunity to extend the company's appreciation to the leadership (of ALPA-S) for their support, understanding and co-operation in working out this agreement," SIA human resources senior vice president Loh Meng See told the IAC.
SIA was one of the world's most profitable airlines before the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome brought regional travel to a near-halt.
The company this month retrenched 414 ground staff to stem losses of six million dollars a day through April and May, when SARS was at its peak, and warned that pilots might also be axed.
======================================
Pic: Singapore Airlines 777-200 9V-SRF
http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=85665
Pic: Wirraway
======================================