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
