Well, we’re not going to have that. They know what this is all about. You’re not going to have that in Singapore. Four years later, in 2011, it was back to the courtroom as the union and the airline butted heads again. As the pilots were all ushered into the open-meeting, with the 'Alpha-S' pilots sitting on 1 side of the long table and Lee Kuan Yew at the center on the other side flanked by his ministers, NTUC union chief, SIA executives, etc, little have they known that LKY had already instructed a deep investigation and background checks into all the leading members of Alpha-S who were threatening … Last week, The Straits Times reported that a global pilot shortage had hit SIA, which has lost about 180 pilots in the past five to six years to rival airlines, mainly from China and the Middle East. Then they decided they wanted to go off on their own so we built up workshops in Kuala Lumpur so they could go off. Here again, the level of development of a country may be a proxy for rigorous enforcement.". He met them face to face to show that he meant business. Today, with our population of three million – plus another one million foreigners, it’s four million – we are carrying the loads of Australia, with a population of 20 million, or for that matter, many other airlines. And it goes up to 115 per cent of what was taken away if it proves to be as successful as last year. He warned them that if they "play this game, there are going to be broken heads". Tackling labour-management relations remained one of his key priorities until he stepped down in January last year. And if they’re confrontational, then either the union gives way or the union is able to knock the Government down. So after the Sars debacle, SIA lost money for the first time in its history, they accepted the pay cuts, no-pay leave, certain adjustments in work schedules with a proviso that if SIA makes money, as it makes money it will restore all its cuts. Right or wrong, they genuinely feel that they are being shortchanged. If we sit back and do nothing and allow this to escalate and test the wills, then it is going to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in one, two, three months of nastiness. First, competition - both long-and short-haul - is very tough. So we had to go international or nothing. They persuaded, with the help of the Ministry of Manpower, the unions – not just the pilots’ union but the five unions across the board in SIA – to take pay cuts, adjust work schedules and generally trim down. While pilots should not expect to be paid what airlines in China pay, for example, SIA, too, should realise that the gap cannot be too wide. But Lee Kuan Yew, dead at 91, will be remembered for lifting millions out of poverty — even if that meant micromanaging their lives. Now you can have that in Hong Kong. Most autocrats drive their nations into the ground. Budget carriers are coming into Asia and it’s a matter of time before they pose the same challenge to mainline carriers as they do in America and now increasingly in Europe. This is a place that works, that must work and continue to work because it is based on principles. Tensions were high between Singapore Airlines' (SIA) top brass and the Air Line Pilots Association - Singapore (Alpa-S). I decided a long time ago that popularity is something volatile. And when that is understood, we then talk sense. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. Determined to set things straight, the late founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew summoned all parties to the Istana. There were suggestions to divest SIA Engineering Company and Singapore Airport Terminal Services, two of SIA's largest subsidiaries. I believe that it is better to be feared than to be loved. Mr Singh did not elaborate on the government's 'involvement' in SIA and PSA but Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew was very much in the thick of an effort to settle the recent dispute between SIA pilots and management over wage cuts and other industrial relations issues. These offers are often between 50 and 100 per cent above what an SIA pilot makes. Lee Kuan Yew, GCMG, CH (Honorary) (Chinese: 李光耀; pinyin: Lǐ Guāngyào; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015; also Lee Kwan-Yew) was a Singaporean politician. A call was also made a few years ago for pilots to take voluntary no-pay leave. In the end, the only way forward for both parties is through dialogue and compromise. The airline must keep its pilots' remuneration under control and increase productivity," Prof Gianasso noted. The current jet fuel price, for example, is almost at a four-year high. A three-member panel, consisting of a judge and a representative each from SIA and Alpa-S, agreed with the union. Lee Kuan Yew (kinesiska: 李光耀, pinyin: Lǐ Guāngyào), född 16 september 1923 i Singapore, död 23 mars 2015 i Singapore, var den förste premiärministern i republiken Singapore från 1959 till 1990.Sedan han avgått från ämbetet fortsatte Lee att vara en av de mest inflytelserika politikerna i Singapore. They are squeezed, there’s a recession, you’re blamed for it, your stocks go down. And the key is not to hold an election when people are not feeling good. At about the same time, Mr Stephen Lee - then president of the Singapore National Employers Federation and PSA chairman - joined SIA's board. When – after settling this and voting in favour of the executive committee saying, ‘yes, we support this’ – SIA makes $300 million in one quarter, they decide ‘We’ll sack the committee, we’re going to take over. Are EU Markets More Competitive than Those in the U.S.? The captains were allowed, when they were resting, to take a first-class seat which could recline. I can assure you that in Singapore, when we decide that they are breaking the rules of the game, the unspoken rules as to how we survive, how we have prospered, then either their head is broken or our bones are broken. The airline insists that the numbers are within the company's projection for manpower planning, but the union is concerned. So, for instance, when SIA changes first-class seats to totally flat reclining seats and so there are fewer first-class seats. The love story between Lee Kuan Yew and his late wife Kwa Geok Choo is a beautiful and touching one. This is a service industry. In the early 1970s, the government of Singapore, led by prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, had a great idea. Differing opinions on manpower issues, related to pay and working conditions, have brought both parties that are in the midst of negotiations for a fresh three-year collective employment agreement to a deadlock. They’re a special breed. Both management at SIA and the pilots’ union, and all the unions in SIA, know that when the Government decides that its industrial relations is a key factor in its progress, in its economic well-being, and it says no, it means no. NBS International PhD Scholarship/Postdoctoral Fellowship. But if you read it you will find it very current.' In 2007, SIA and Alpa-S met in court to settle a dispute related to flying the Airbus 380 - the world's biggest passenger jet that SIA was the first to operate that same year. A Malaysian airline pilot who angered Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew by leading a rare union revolt lost his appeal against the government's decision to strip him of his residency. We are not going to have that. While management-union relations became less acrimonious after 2003, there continued to be disagreements between the airline and Alpa-S - one of four unions that represent SIA workers and the only major union in Singapore not affiliated with the National Trades Union Congress. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said the fact that the pilots agreed to lower wages Both parties have legitimate points, said Professor Guido Gianasso, academic director for the Iata-Nanyang Advanced Management Programme at Nanyang Technological University's Nanyang Business School. In other words, we’re carrying other people’s passengers. Capt Goh, who was living here from 1981, was singled out by then Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew for instigating the ouster of Alpa-S leaders in November 2003, amid unhappiness over wage negotiations. Sources say the rate of attrition is historically high and worrying because it comes at a time when SIA is expanding its operations with new aircraft and routes. There’s no catchment here. In the Home Section (Page H11) of The Straits Times of 24 May 2003. The dispute is expected to be heard before the IAC before the end of next month. I have followed closely the ups and downs in SIA and Alpa-S relations since 2003, and while it is natural, even healthy, for management and unions to clash from time to time, the current grievances do seem serious and deep-seated. On at least two occasions, the Industrial Arbitration Court (IAC) had to intervene. Certification would ensure that the pilots have met certain standards, as long as the certification standards are properly enforced. I will not allow that because I literally decided, in the early days, that I will preserve this potential business for Singapore. He also spoke about his style of governing compared to that of the younger ministers and the branding of Singapore. I belong to the old school. "Should one of these two factors change, SIA would struggle. 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