ITF coordinator for Asia Pacific Hanafi Rustandi said in Miami, the United States when he was contacted from here on Saturday that Garuda Indonesia airlines should have consulted the Garuda Pilots Association (APG) before deciding to hire foreign pilots.
Garuda pilots on July 28 staged a strike for a number of reasons, among others, Garuda`s step to recruit foreign pilots, difference in pay standards and clogged communications between the pilots and management so that a collective labor agreement has remained unsigned since 2009.
"ITF fully supports the equality in salaries and welfare improvement the pilots are aspiring to," Hanafi said in Miami when he was contacted from Jakarta.
Referring to the collective labor agreement which had not yet been signed between the management and the workers, Hanafi said the agreement was a "sacred` book for the workers and the management.
Garuda pilots staged a strike on July 18, 2011 causing a number of flights to be delayed but later in the day they decided to end their strike after the minister for state-owned enterprises mediated.
The pilots were demanding an increase in their salaries to an amount equal to those of foreign pilots in Garuda.
The pilots demanded an increase because the amounts of their salaries were not equal to foreign pilots who were contract workers.
The salaries of foreign pilots were considered far higher than those of local pilots. A foreign co-pilot is paid US$7,200 or about Rp61 million per month while a local captain pilot only gets a total income of Rp40 million per month.
On July 21, 2011, the APG had asked the management of Garuda to heed their demand for a wage increase, giving it time until July 28, to meet their demand. If not, the pilots would stage a strike.
(Uu.A014/HAJM/H-YH)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
