NTUC, aviation unions intervene against ‘unfair’ retrenchments by aircraft maintenance firm

• Unions had been in talks with Eagle Services Asia since early July
• The company went ahead to retrench employees before finalising details with the unions
• The unions halted the retrenchment to negotiate better terms for affected workers
• These include securing more training grants for affected union members

SINGAPORE — Five days after proposing a set of guidelines for fair retrenchment practices, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) has made public its efforts to put a halt to the unfair retrenchment of workers at an aircraft maintenance company and renegotiate better outcomes for the affected employees.

NTUC said in a joint statement with several unions from the aviation and aerospace engineering sectors on Wednesday (July 29) that the renegotiated terms for the retrenched workers at Eagle Services Asia included:  

• Ensuring that the Singaporean workers were “safeguarded” from retrenchment as far as possible, while giving due consideration to foreign workers. This was done through a joint review of the retrenched workers by the unions and Eagle Services Asia’s management.

• Negotiating for an extra training grant for all affected union members, over and above what the unions said was a fair compensation package. 

• Having NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) on-site to provide support and to help match affected employees to job placement opportunities.

• Having union leaders on-site to assist affected employees and to provide support.

THE CASE

The statement, which was jointly written between the NTUC and the Air Transport Executive Staff Union, SIA Engineering Company Engineers and Executives Union, and Singapore Airlines Staff Union, said that they had first entered negotiations with Eagle Services Asia in early July about a planned retrenchment exercise by the company.

Despite the ongoing talks, Eagle Services Asia, which is a unionised company, then proceeded to lay off some employees on July 22, before finalising the name list with the unions. 

It was not stated how many employees were affected by this July 22 retrenchment or what terms they received then. TODAY has reached out to NTUC for clarification. 

NTUC’s secretary-general Ng Chee Meng said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that he found out about this case a week ago, after he received messages from concerned workers and the unions about the “unfair” retrenchment exercise at Eagle Services Asia. 

“While NTUC respects (the) management’s needed measures to keep the business viable, we will stand up for our workers’ dignity, interests and fair play,” he said.

The joint statement said that the unions then “took decisive action” to stop any further action by the company until an agreement could be reached.

During this period, the unions not only held meetings with Eagle Services Asia’s management, but with their respective union members as well. 

Mr Ng also authorised the unions to conduct a secret ballot to sanction legal industrial action to improve the retrenchment process, if it was necessary. 

Eventually, Eagle Services Asia conceded that the retrenchment process could have been better managed, the statement said.  

The company’s management took the advice of NTUC and the unions to correct the retrenchment process and "accorded due respect to the rights of employees and to the union leaders".

While the statement did not mention the reasons for Eagle Services Asia’s need to retrench workers, the unions stressed that companies “must exhaust all other options” before making the call to retrench employees. 

The unions reiterated that in the event of a retrenchment, companies must ensure openness, transparency and consultation with unions and workers. 

Companies should also observe the guidelines outlined in NTUC’s Fair Retrenchment Framework and the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment, the statement said.

“NTUC understands these are tough times. Nonetheless, there must still be fair play and proper process accorded to affected workers in any retrenchment,” Mr Ng said. 

TODAY has reached out to Eagle Services Asia for comments.