Established in 1965, AESU is one of the few unions in
Singapore that represents middle-management. Its members comprise middle-level executives in the SIA group of companies, including its former subsidiary (SATS) and associate company (Eagle Services Asia), viz:
- Singapore Airlines (SIA),
- SIA Engineering Company (SIAEC),
- Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS),
- Eagles Services Asia (ESA),
- SilkAir,
- SIA Cargo,
- Tradewinds Tours & Travel.
Dear Members,
2010 will likely be my most memorable year with the Executive Committee (Exco) of AESU due to the challenges brought about by the recent retirement of long-time serving President, Edward Lim and General Secretary, Regi Wong. Deputy General Secretary, Burhanuddin Kamaruddin, will also be retiring at the end of August this year.
It is thus incumbent upon me to take over the leadership role in your Union as General Secretary.
My credentials to lead AESU include 33 years of active union work since 1977, when I was an Aircraft Engineer. After my promotion to the Administrative Officer Grade in 1982, I served with the AESU Engineering Sub-Committee till my election into the Exco in July 1988. Although I became the Treasurer in 1991, I continued my active involvement in all our union’s industrial relations matters. I have served in the 2007/08 National Wages Council (NWC) and the NTUC Service Sector IR Committees. Currently I am the Chairman of the NTUC Aerospace and Aviation Cluster Committee.
To ensure continuity and a smooth transition until the forthcoming Quadrennial General Meeting in November this year, your Exco deliberated and made the following appointments:
President: S Supramaniam (SIA)
Vice President: Francis Lim (ESA)
Deputy General Secretary/Treasurer: Ravi P (SIA)
In addition, to strengthen the Exco and to effectively communicate with our members on various issues in the seven companies, two of our active Corporate Committee Members were co-opted into the Exco for the interim period. They are:
Colin Koh (SIAEC)
Teo Lip Hong (SATS)
The rest of the Exco line up remains the same.
The 2007 Collective Agreements (CA) with all our partners, except ESA, had expired on 31 March 2010. Although we have reached and signed agreements with SIA, SIA Cargo and SilkAir on 31 May, 15 June and 19 July respectively, difficult and protracted negotiations are still in progress on the CA renewals with SIA Engineering and SATS; negotiations are on-going with Tradewinds’ Management. Negotiations on various other issues such as Service Increments, Re-employment, SATS’ Profit Sharing and individual grievances are also in progress.
Your Exco is in the process of reorganizing AESU to be more member-centric. I am pleased to inform you that your Exco members are very enthusiastic and are currently working on some initiatives. Details on these initiatives shall be announced in due course.
I look forward to your continued support.
With warmest regards
Martin Chan