Chenghu's SIA wants Old Pilots to Become Baggage Handlers?? Re-employment???

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

I read this ST article...from top to bottom...i get the message...too many pilots, too few baggage handlers... :D

.........

SIA pilots' union to call snap polls

Karamjit Kaur
The Straits Times
Sunday, Jan 18, 2015

SINGAPORE - The union representing Singapore Airlines (SIA) pilots will call snap polls as early as next month, following a decision by the airline to stop offering re-employment to captains above the retirement age of 62.

The president of the Air Line Pilots Association - Singapore (Alpa-S), Captain Mok Hin Choon, turns 62 next month, and will have to step down.

He is among more than 90 captains affected by SIA's decision, which also affects pilots already on re-employment contracts that had allowed them to fly until 64.

They will now have to go by the end of March.

Capt Mok told The Straits Times yesterday: "We will have to call for elections quickly, possibly next month, to pick a new president."

The veteran pilot with more than three decades of flying experience, who was recently offered a one-year re-employment contract ahead of his birthday, said he was "surprised" and "disappointed" by the airline's decision.

Elected in April 2012 as union chief for a three-year term which ends this May, Capt Mok said that while the airline was well within its rights to terminate staff as long as at least a month's notice is given, affected pilots are concerned.

"It gives them very little time to look at other options," he said.

SIA spokesman Nicholas Ionides said the decision to let the pilots go is due to a situation of excess manpower, which has persisted in the last few years and is not expected to change until March next year at least.

He said: "The situation has not improved due to network changes, the challenging business environment and despite measures already taken to alleviate the surplus, including voluntary no-pay leave and voluntary movements to subsidiaries.

"We therefore regret that we have to take this decision to reduce the surplus further, and are no longer able to offer re-employment to captains beyond age 62."

SIA which employs about 2,400 pilots, will provide assistance "where possible" to pilots who are not re-employed to find alternative employment, he said.

The challenges have had an impact on the bottom line, with profits in the six months to the end of September dipping 55.5 per cent to $126 million.

This is the second time in as many years that the airline has cut flying years for pilots. In April last year, it stopped offering re- employment to first officers beyond age 62 and to captains beyond age 64. Before that, pilots could fly until the age of 65.

Alpa-S has approached the Manpower Ministry for assistance, Capt Mok said.

"In this case, there was neither consultation nor discussion, which makes a mockery of the whole spirit of tripartism and what it stands for," he said.

A spokesman for the Manpower Ministry, which is in discussions with the union, said that under the Retirement and Re-employment Act, employers should consider all available re-employment options within their organisations and identify suitable jobs for eligible employees.

If this cannot be done, eligible employees will receive a one-off employment assistance payment, as a last resort, she said.

Meanwhile, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) said the decision by SIA not to rehire captains above the age of 62 is not a reflection of the overall state of the aviation sector.

Speaking on the sidelines of a media event yesterday, NTUC assistant secretary-general Cham Hui Fong said that in areas such as aircraft cleaning and baggage handling, employers are in fact struggling to find local workers amid a labour crunch.


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