KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 — A union representing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) cabin crew told the national carrier today to justify the planned retrenchment of thousands of low-ranking employees whose salaries it said are below-average in the region.
The National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam) claimed that the salaries of the 500 over highest-paid MAS staff can easily feed 1,000 families and thousands who earn less than the average of their counterparts from other airlines in the region.
“So, where is the logic that the lower ranking staffs are overpaid and deserves (sic) to be terminated for what’s happening in MAS today?” Nufam said in a statement on its Facebook page.
“We believed the lower staffs (sic) should not be at fault as they do not deserve the sacking since they have been striving hard all these years for the airline. What MAS really needs to do is to show proof they have suffered such losses and must be able to justify the huge termination (not retrenchment as planned earlier) of their low ranking staffs,” the union added.
The Star reported today that over 8,000 MAS workers were now at risk of termination as the airline may widen its jobs cull beyond the initially reported 6,000 that it previously said was needed to trim its headcount to a “sustainable” 14,000.
The employees will learn their fate on Wednesday, when every worker other than newly appointed chief executive Christoph Mueller will be terminated, before possibly being offered new employment with MAS’ new entity, Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB).
Staff retained will also get new remuneration package based on market rates, Mueller said.
The national carrier was delisted in August after sovereign wealth fund Khazanah offered to buy out minority shareholders for a total of RM1.38 billion to restructure MAS, which suffered two air disasters this year.
The total takeover will cost Khazanah RM6 billion after the twin tragedies of MH370 and MH17 had threatened to overwhelm MAS’s finances.
The sovereign wealth fund later unveiled a 12-point turnaround plan for the national carrier, titled “Rebuilding A National Icon — The MAS Recovery Plan”, which includes transferring all MAS assets to the new entity.
