Should Government interfere in Union Member's Rights ?
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It is surprising that while the Government encourages the success of NTUC in absorbing all Workers to be Union Members, it should take on an intimidating role towards the activities of non-NTUC affiliated Unions.
If the Ministry refused to intervene in the earlier wage disputes between the Management of SIA and its Pilots' Union, why is it trying to intimidate the Pilots' Union in the internal dispute of the Union ?
With the Government being involved in the ownership of SIA, through Temasek Holdings - (even as the Government tries to conceal this fact by 'selling off' its shares, the fact remains that those shares are then picked up by other GLCs investing its excess funds) - should it take on a conflicting role by applying its own weight towards Union Workers ?
The intolerance of the Acting Minister of Manpower, Ng Eng Han, is showing its short fuse again, when it was first arrogantly displayed towards the University Don's publication of the ratio of Foreign and Singaporean Workers in Singapore.
The fact is that the Pilots are daring enough to take on the SIA management over the misleading losses reported three months ago, so as to justify and enforced the wage and benefit cuts, as well as to retrench pilots; and now SIA has reported a net gain of $300 million within three months, and are embarking again on major Pilot and Flight Crew recruitments
It is quite clear that the Government is renegading on its own advise to keep workers, retrain and redeploy workers, rather than to retrench them as a knee jerk response to short term aberrations.
How easy it is to espouse morality to the local businesses and industries, but to act differently when it hurts one's own interest ?
Hypocrisy in the double standards being practised ?
Ministry watching pilots' action
THE Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is watching closely the developments at the Singapore Airlines pilots' union whose leaders were booted out on Monday by disgruntled members.
Acting Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen said yesterday that he was concerned about the situation.
He cautioned the pilots about their 'very confrontational stance and very adversarial poise' which, he said, put at risk Singapore's position as an air hub as well as the jobs of other industry workers.
'They have to ask themselves whether this is what they think will help Singapore as an air hub,' he said at the opening of a fair on learning and skills training.
He was replying to reporters' questions on the ousting of the 20 office-holders of the Air Line Pilots Association of Singapore (Alpa-S), which has a history of challenging the airline's management.
In urging the pilots to be circumspect, Dr Ng said the repercussions would be severe if Singapore loses its position as an air hub.
'Not only will pilots lose their jobs, baggage handlers, caterers, the infrastructure at Changi and the whole industry that it supports will lose.
'And that's a very key and fundamental aspect. So MOM is concerned about the developments of the pilots' union,' he said.
Singapore Airlines' (SIA) pilots have been simmering since wages were cut by between 5 and 16.5 per cent, 26 pilots were laid off, and compulsory unpaid leave was introduced after the outbreaks of the Iraq war and Sars.
Things came to a boil when SIA announced last month a stunning $306 million profit for the second quarter, prompting many pilots to accuse Alpa-S leaders of giving in too easily to management. -
is there any chance you could cut out the middle portion and supply the juicy arguments? Your articles are getting rather long...
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Originally posted by Atobe:
oh i actuali wanted to start a thread on this but forgot.
[b]Ministry watching pilots' action
THE Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is watching closely the developments at the Singapore Airlines pilots' union whose leaders were booted out on Monday by disgruntled members.
Acting Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen said yesterday that he was concerned about the situation.
He cautioned the pilots about their 'very confrontational stance and very adversarial poise' which, he said, put at risk Singapore's position as an air hub as well as the jobs of other industry workers.
'They have to ask themselves whether this is what they think will help Singapore as an air hub,' he said at the opening of a fair on learning and skills training.
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mr ng's statement, imo, was rather insensitive.
the workers haf all the rite to throw out a union leadership tt did not serve its purpose.
and although the big picture is important, we should not be so obsessed wif it and forget tt it is people who help to achieve it - and to these ppl, who cares abt the big picture if they canot hold on to their jobs?
so using "singapore as air hub" as a reason for all tt seems really like dismissing the workers as mere digits in the strive for the ultimate aim. is tt wat we want? is tt wat the workers want? -
Many thanks for your suggestions, I getting quite rotund around my midriff, but which part of the 'middle portion' should I cut out to shorten the post - from my comments, or from the Newspaper extracts ?Originally posted by BillyBong:is there any chance you could cut out the middle portion and supply the juicy arguments? Your articles are getting rather long... -
think about it..
the head honcho of the union is the minister without portfolio..
what do you think is the matter with the unions?? -
Just keep those arguments rolling. Quoting the articles will be sufficient. There's no need to paste them. Too many words just make the thread seem...well wordy.
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As lee boon yang already mentioned, ppl who lose their jobs tend to vent their fury at a seemingly "hopeless" union. What they did not understand, he argued, was had there been an absence of a union, companies would be free to cut their labour as they deem fit, unchecked and unfazed by public anger.
Hence his definition of the union is: to cuts losses in sour times and appear uninterested in good times.
There seems to be a definite minus point to his crude understanding. I mean, what steps do the union take in strong economic times? Do they sit back, content with their staple rice bowls or do they seek better conditions for their white-collar workers? -
The manner in which the Acting Minister of Manpower issued his second warning to the Pilot Association, reflects his personal high handed manner of conducting business.
His early exposure in handling public disaster was during his very short stint at the Ministry of Education, just when SARS broke out and the First Term School Holidays was about to be over.
His outright dismissal of parental concern with the mystery killer disease was certainly high handed, when many parents were expressing their valid concern in the light of the mystery killer disease, and were asking for an extension of the First Term School Holidays that were about to end.
Remarkably, as the SARS disease became pervasive, no apologies were given when the Ministry of Education finally decided to close all schools about four days after his rejection.
If the Public Face of Politicians is such an issue - when the Opposition is held to be 'gangsters' based on their unphotogenic looks - the haughty attitude of the Acting Minister of Manpower, with the stern and unsmiling face coupled with the heavy warnings, can only confirm the observations from a Senior Civil Servant that some new members of Government think that they are mini-LKY.
Perhaps the Acting Minister of Manpower could get some tutoring in the handling of Human Relationships from the Acting Minister of Health - who shone during the stressful days of SARS.
See the post: Singapore 'Bigger than PAP?' -
now even the Dragon Prince also speaks..
the unions are crap here...
if a union throws away the will to fight for the workers, just because the ga'armen say so, then look for the workers to be mentally, financially and spiritually sodomised..
and worse, after the buggery, we'd be told to like it
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In Singapore, workers has no protection from their unions and have been suffering because of tripatite arrangement. Pilots and other workers are exploited and thrown away as and when the companies they work for suffers a loss in earnings. See how our "good" government helps us.
Though we want to ensure that our economy is protected, we should not forget that the ultimate end of a healthy economy is for the battlement of our livelihoods.
Unfortunately our government always want us to give up our leisure, savings and our rights for their own good- to make their job easier. They use their power to make the citizens weak, timid and stupid. They are also successful to make us become fools and idiots- easily surcome to their threats. Threats is the only weapon they have.
Tell you the truth- Singapore Government and Singaporeans are seen by the western world as "gutless" and willing to give up any rights entitled - just to please them.
We are secretly being despised by them and to them they think that we are fools!!!!
Stupid government- no skeleton and no back bone.
Singapore like it or not have inherent qualities like geography, productivity and economic strength that will not be hindered by strikes or labour movement. Raffles founded this island because it is already destined to be the best.
So lets do what it takes to make us stand again. -
Hi all,
This is my first post
Thinking about this issue, perhaps there may be a good reason why the Singapore government should interfere:
1) The present dispute between SIA's management and the pilots involve not only just those two parties alone, but has ramifications for other employees in SIA, as well as the viability of our national airline. Hence, any action by either party will have an effect on third parties such as other employees within SIA itself and Singapore in general, in term of its economy and its commercial image as an air hub. It is this factor which differentiates the labour dispute between SIA's management and AlpaS from labour disputes surrounding commercial airliners such as Virgin Atlantic, ValuAir etc....
2) It therefore follows that in order to protect the interests of the third parties involved, there may have to be some form of curtailment of due process rights of either AlpaS or SIA to negotiate their labour dispute in a way which a labour dispute involving Virgin Atlantic or ValuAir is negotiated. When I say due process rights, I mean the legal means which are available to the parties', either under the AlpaS's constitution or general law, to use their respective bargaining power to come to a mutually acceptable compromise.
3) As to whom is to represent the third party in all these matters, I think that for Singaporeans in general, there is no other viable alternative other than the government. No doubt the government's ownership of SIA through Temasek Holdings make them an ill suited candidate, I do not see anyone else with the capacity to represent the population's interests other than the government.
4) However, given that someone's due process rights are being curtailed, the curtailment by the Singapore government of such due process rights should take place in a manner which is objective to the predicaments faced by both sides and also in a manner which does not convey the impression that the government is taking sides. In addition, any curtailment of rights should be no more than necessary to protect the interests of the general population.
Given those 4 propositions, although I think that the government may have a legitimate basis for interference, the confrontational language used by the various ministers is wholly inappropriate.
How on earth will the pilots feel that their grieviences have been fairly dealt with if a compromise solution is seen to have been forced down their throats with the government standing shoulder to shoulder with SIA's management?
Furthermore, how well does this bode for national solidarity in times of economic crisis when the government is seen to be backing big business in preference to the rank and file workers, who make up a sizable proportion of Singapore's population? Undoubtedly, public trust is being eroded if the government does not cease its confrontational rhetoric and adopt the appearance of a more objective and independent stance in this whole labour dispute.
My two cents worth
Kawaja -
I just can't stand this Hen of a Acting Minister. Let us all try our best to vote him out in the next GE. In this day and age, lets not tolerate this type of behaviour from a civil servant who is extremely well paid from our hard earned tax dollars and behaving like a dictator, a product of LKY politics, which I must add, is way passe in this modern times.
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Well, this issue has developed further with more Ministers getting in on the act. So to revive the topic, heres what was said today...
Quote:
The Acting Manpower Minister says he'll speak to both SIA's management and the pilots' union to get them to understand what has gone wrong in their relationship and to work together for the future.
Dr Ng Eng Hen said the government's intervention in the issue is to try to improve their relationship.
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He was speaking to reporters after a cultural night at the Toa Payoh South community club on Saturday evening.
"Enough has been said by many Ministers to send a very clear message to the pilots' union that the path that they are on now, the path which they have over the many years been used to, will lead to a lot of difficulty. A lot of difficulty for themselves, for the company and eventually affect all of us. The intervention is really on the course that the whole pilots' union is taking. We will have to, and the purpose of the intervention is to try to improve the relationship.
"And yes, we'd have to deal with the management and the pilots' union. But one piece at a time, currently the message is to both parties. I've spoken to management, I'm now also speaking to the pilots' union, and I hope that both sides will examine how their relationships have gone wrong in the past and try to seriously consider which new direction they want to take," said Dr Ng. - CNA -
And now , heres why there is a problem betn SIA management and its Staff.... If only the situation had been handled better... like some others seem to be able to...
Cathay Pacific staff get 3 weeks' salary plus bonus
By VEN SREENIVASAN
CATHAY Pacific's staff cheered last Friday as the airline announced that it would be paying them an ex-gratia sum amounting to three weeks' salary this month. The payment virtually covers the entire three weeks of unpaid leave its worldwide staff voluntarily took during the Sars-induced crisis.
Asia's 6th biggest carrier is also paying its 121 Singapore-based staff a 1.5 month year-end bonus.
The airline cut capacity by as much as 45 per cent and suffered losses of US$3 million a day at the height of the severe acute respiratory syndrome pandemic in the April-June period.
Cathay Pacific had asked its staff to take 4 weeks of voluntary unpaid leave. Over 99 per cent of its staff agreed. However, a quick industry recovery which kicked in in July enabled this unpaid leave to be cut to just 3 weeks.
Unlike most other Sars-hit regional carriers, including Singapore Airlines, Cathay did not implement wage cuts for its 14,500 staff worldwide.
Cathay's Singapore country manager James Ginns described the payment as the company's way of recognising the sacrifice made by its staff during tough times.
'The ex-gratia payment is in appreciation of the support by staff around the world when the company was faced with a crisis,' he said.
Cathay reported a record first-half loss of HK$1.24 billion. But the post-Sars recovery has been swift and strong, and analysts expect Cathay to post full-year profit of almost HK$1 billion.
The airline is now filling 75 per cent of its seats, compared with 25 per cent during the peak of the Sars outbreak. Last month it carried 1.02 million passengers, up from 951,703 in September. It has also been recruiting staff and upgrading its fleet. -
according to the news, the ga'armen is going to change some laws...
right.. move the goalposts.. change the game...
have they no shame?
p.s.
i'm kinda pissed off that the ga'armen is going to turn the unions into a rubber-stamping process...
what the heck is going on?
does that mean the ga'armen is going to railroad anyone who has dissenting views? going down the downward spiral... i am afraid for my country -
All this crap about warning Alpa-S and the changing of the rules I believe, is not so much to keep Alpa-S in line (the secondary objective), but to keep THE OTHER UNIONS in line, which is the primary objective. And all this because LKY and the other ministers know the power of the unions and the people behind them in changing the landscape in a country, with the first generation PAP leaders being particularly big beneficiaries of the power of the labour movement before they took power.
FWIW I think the whole affair of pegging the unions back is a step backwards for Singapore as a whole, not just in the area of labour laws and industrial relations. We are basically intent on keeping what we claim to be a first world country with labour laws and industrial relations straight out of the Third World in the 1960s!
Shame on the Government! -
Comparing the approach of Singapore Airlines and that of Cathay Pacific, it is a shame that the Singapore Government has somehow forgotten its own moralistic speeches made in 2001 and 2002 - getting Employers to hold on the workers, retrain and redeploy them, and not to sack them, or to get into a flexi wage scheme instead of resorting to knee jerk responses to the changing market situation.
The problem with the Singapore Airline issue is that the Singapore Government is wearing 'all the hats'.
It owns the Government 'hat' exclusively, and also the 'hat' to the management of SIA, as well as the 'hat' to the NTUC - which has failed to keep in check the unhappiness of the Affiliated Unions Leaders and Members.
The Government also has a direct interest in the viability of the operation of Changi Airport, as well as the various business enterprises that are found within the premises of the entire Airport.
For the SIA Pilot to be able to replace its entire Union leadership, with a no-confidence vote, this could spell the beginning in the unravelling of the disciplined subjugation of OTHER more compliant but disgruntled Union Leaders and Members.
It is the characteristic response from the Ruling Party, as seen from case studies of 'how to bear down on rougue Unions' - dating back to the 1950's.
In LKY's own fighting style, 'if you want to fight, be prepared to face the knuckle dusters'.
'Gangsters' seems to be in the woodworks even in the politics of the 1950's and 1960's - so what is new about some Y2K Members from some Opposition Party 'behaving like Gangsters' ? -
No worries, if the pilots feels that they are being patronised, they'll vote with their feet.
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Absolutely disgusting bit of gerrymandering. Shame on you people who cannot fix your troubles except by using the life blood and sweat of others for your tasks. The pilots are human beings too, unless from that ivory tower, the view is quite myopic.The argument of a failing airline industry arising from a so-called "confrontational" union behaviour is simply specious and an insult to all Singaporeans.In fact, if a union can be proven to treat the rights of workers in the same importance as they kowtow to regulatory forces hiding monopolistic motives, the opposite may occur.It may lead to less pilots leaving because the do not feel as disenchanted with the system.
A flexible system will self-heal..by moving the goalposts, who is the confrontational one? May i ask, albeit in the disguise of legal action what this action is?At least football has FIFA, what have these pilots? Ponder it well, for it raises a lot of issues that the inhabitants up there fear one day will deluge them in their own mistakes.
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Ah Ng wishes to rule with an iron-fist, he will suffer eventually.Originally posted by wuming78:oh i actuali wanted to start a thread on this but forgot.
mr ng's statement, imo, was rather insensitive.
the workers haf all the rite to throw out a union leadership tt did not serve its purpose.
and although the big picture is important, we should not be so obsessed wif it and forget tt it is people who help to achieve it - and to these ppl, who cares abt the big picture if they canot hold on to their jobs?
so using "singapore as air hub" as a reason for all tt seems really like dismissing the workers as mere digits in the strive for the ultimate aim. is tt wat we want? is tt wat the workers want?
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Government will not allow work-to-rule situation, SM Lee warns SIA pilots
By S. Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia
SINGAPORE : Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew has warned Singapore Airlines' pilots that the Government will not allow a go-slow or work-to-rule situation to brew in the airline because of the tensions between management and pilots.
In the strongest words from a minister, Mr Lee said when trouble was brewing, the Government had two options - either do nothing and hope it will resolve itself or move in early to avoid severe consequences.
Mr Lee was speaking at the Global Brand Forum in Singapore on Monday.
Mr Lee said: "This is a service industry, you have stewards or stewardess or pilots playing work-to-rule, you lose that cache. So we are telling them, both management and unions, you play this game there are going to be broken heads, let's stop it.
"They know what this is all about, we are not fools, we know what the management knows, we know the union side too, we have got unionists on our side and we are going to solve this before it gets troublesome, solve it we will.
"If we sit back and do nothing and allow this to escalate and test the wills, then it is going to loose hundreds of millions of dollars in one, two, three months. We are not going to have that." - CNA
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wow. heard from the news the telecast of the extract of his speech on this issue. his words of "i will no allow this" sounded realli strong, esp the "i".
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I must have been reading different news from him, or I must hallucinating due to some reason (old age or senility probably?), but when did Alpa-S threaten to "go-slow" or "work to rule"? All the pilots did was to throw out an Exco which they felt was not representing their interest (which should be their basic right as a union member or of any organization for that matter), and the government is reacting like they're taking industrial action and urging all workers to join them. Talk about using a sledgehammer on an ant!Originally posted by wuming78:SINGAPORE : Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew has warned Singapore Airlines' pilots that the Government will not allow a go-slow or work-to-rule situation to brew in the airline because of the tensions between management and pilots.
If there ever was a case of disproportionate pre-emptive action that went too far, this must rank right there among the top.
Can anyone say "knee-jerk"? -
SM Lee says Government determined to resolve SIA pilots-management tension
By S. Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia
SINGAPORE : Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew has warned Singapore Airlines' pilots that if they threaten the nation's survival or the fundamentals which have helped it prosper, heads will be broken.
He said the Government would not allow the pilots to resort to a go-slow or work-to-rule.
When it comes to global brands, Singapore Airlines is up there with the best of them.
But recently, tensions between the airline's pilots and manangement have threatened Singapore's industrial harmony and growth.
Mr Lee said the Government was determined to put a stop to this.
Mr Lee said: "When you know it is heading for trouble and it is not resolved, you are going to have severe consequences, then you move and move early.
"If we sit back and do nothing and allow this to escalate and test the wills, then it is going to loose hundreds of millions of dollars in one, two, three months. We are not going to have that."
Addressing an international audience at the Global Brand Forum on Monday, Mr Lee recounted how SIA pilots once kicked up a fuss over the type of seats they were allotted for rest-breaks, at the expense of passengers.
Mr Lee said: "Pilots believe they are special, they got huge egos, I am told. We know that if we allow this to go on, there will be a go-slow, there will be work-to-rule and we will get the Cathay Pacific situation.
"Now you can have that in Hong Kong, but you are not going to have that in Singapore. I will not allow that. So we are telling both management and unions - you play this game, there are going to be broken heads - let's stop it."
Mr Lee's comments on the current saga between SIA's management and its pilots comes hot on the heels of a statement from the Prime Minister's Office on improving industrial relations in SIA.
And it is no surprise that Mr Lee had strong words for the airline's management and pilots as it was he and the first generation of ministers who played a critical role in building up the SIA brand name internationally.
SIA pilots recently booted out their union leaders, saying they had given in to pay cuts and retrenchments too easily.
But the pilots had agreed to these cuts. Things only reached a boil because SIA announced a $306 million second quarter profit.
But Mr Lee said this was just a glimmer of recovery in an industry facing grave challenges.
Mr Lee said: "If they are confrontational then either the union gives way or the union is able to knock the Government down.
"I can assure you that in Singapore, when we decide they are breaking the rules of the game, unspoken rules as to how we survive, how we have prospered and they break it, then either their head is broken or our bones are broken." - CNA -
looks like the iron-fist rules again.
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Only it looks ham-fisted at the same time.Originally posted by sgboy2004:looks like the iron-fist rules again.