Singapore Airlines (SIA) and three unions representing its Singapore-based staff have reached agreement on wage restructuring measures.
The agreement was reached after positive negotiations involving SIA management and the Airline Executives Staff Union (AESU), Singapore Airlines Staff Union (SIASU), and SATS Workers’ Union (SATSWU). It will be backdated to 1 July 2003.

Under the agreement, the Company will implement a wage cut of 11 per cent in the basic pay of Administrative level staff. A wage cut of 7.5 per cent will apply to general staff earning a basic salary of over S$1,500 per month. General staff earning basic pay of $1,500 per month or less will take a cut of 5 per cent.
To make up for the wage cut, a formulated lump sum payment scheme, based on the audited Group Profit After Tax and minority interests, will also be implemented as part of the agreement, commencing from the financial year beginning 1 April 2003. This allows for up to 115 per cent of the cut to be restored, depending on the profit.

SIA’s Senior Vice-President (Human Resources), Mr Loh Meng See, thanked the unions for their understanding during the negotiations. “We have reached a sound agreement which will help SIA reduce staff costs and increase its competitiveness in a rapidly changing industry. The decisions we made were not easy, and I thank the unions for their support,’’ he said.

The General Secretary of SIASU, Mr Mohamed Hussain bin Kassim, welcomed the agreement. “We are very pleased that the management acted on some of our concerns and listened to our proposals. We hope we can all now move forward. I would like to thank NTUC and SIA top management for expediting the negotiations and helping us reach a successful conclusion.”

The Secretary-General of AESU, Mr Regi Wong, added: “The agreement took into account the interests of employees as well as those of the Company. It essentially converts a portion of our basic salaries from fixed to variable. If the Company meets the profit threshold, all cuts will be restored, and if it doesn’t, we forgo the variable portion and everyone has to work even harder the following year.’’

The wage agreement was concluded at talks earlier today.
——-