Support for Garuda pilots
Support for Garuda pilots
From Koran Tempo
We have learned from recent media reports that the
negotiations on a collective labor agreement -- including a deal
on remuneration -- between the Garuda Pilots' Association and the
management of Garuda, the Indonesian flag-carrier, have come to a
deadlock, with the Garuda pilots, consequently, threatening to
stage a sit-in.
Given that Garuda flies internationally, I support the
demands made by the pilots so as to ensure that they are paid
based on international standards and treated on a par with pilots
in other countries in terms of rights and dignity.
We should heed the human factor concept under which certain
occupations are highly paid because of the degree of risk
shouldered by the people involved. The three most highly paid are
divers, miners and pilots.
Why do people in these professions earn the higher pay
compared with those in other professions? Divers, miners and
pilots have to work in situations in which the oxygen level is
very low and over the years this adversely affects the body.
Besides, any slight negligence or unpreparedness will endanger
their lives (as well as those around them).
It is only proper that pilots are properly appreciated for
their work. In the United States and in other countries where
civil society is well established, a pilot is a hero and an
honored member of society. He carries people safely from one
place to another in a relatively short time. It may still be a
long time before such a way of thinking becomes established in
Indonesia.
I believe Garuda can afford to properly pay its pilots and
other employees provided that the company is properly run in
accordance with international airline business norms. Financial
leakages and corruption must be completely eradicated from this
company so that its profits will not go into the pockets of a few
people only but will instead be utilized to pay the company's
employees properly and fund its development. In turn, the company
will certainly rake in bigger profits.
Hopefully, the Garuda pilots will inspire the entire country
to struggle together for the establishment of a civil society and
for the rooting out of corruption.
ZURRIATI FITRIA
Jakarta