Monday, May 2, 2005
Things were rough this week in Air Jamaica news as Labour Minister Horace Dalley tried to coax the airlines pilots towards an agreement on pay give-backs. Anxiety deepened among staff about jobs and labour leaders accused the company of union busting.
With both sides firm in their positions, the minister was taking legal and technical advice on how to proceed in the face of a deadlock on the salary issue and the union-busting accusation.
Apparently, pilots have offered to reduce salaries by up to a third, a request of the old management, but the company, union officials say, is insisting on more. Air Jamaica says that a radical reduction of costs is necessary to save the government-owned airline.
Already, the airline has cut its fleet from 20 to 15 and has announced that it will make redundant 40 of its more than 200 pilots. It has already sent home about 100 flight attendants.
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