Garuda Indonesia pilots are claiming victory in a long-running fight to bring salaries more in line with international averages, after winning huge pay rises following threats of an all-out strike.
In mid-February a meeting over wages between government, airline and Association of Garuda Pilots representatives led to an agreement on a "win-win proposal," says Garuda. Under the terms of the agreement, says the state-owned airline, it will "raise the salary of the pilots by 35%".
The promise put an end to a three-week stand-off that was marred by threats of a mass strike. Pilots said in January that they were paid far below international norms for cockpit crews and threatened to take wide-ranging industrial action unless wages were immediately increased.
The pilots' union wanted salary hikes of 39% for cockpit crew while Garuda was offering 32%.
In addition to raising salaries of pilots who had complained of being underpaid for years, Garuda said it planned to hire "a consulting firm to conduct a comprehensive study" of salaries to improve overall pay structures.
Source: Airline Business
