SriLankan extends agreement with Aircraft Engineers' Union

AGREEMENT: SriLankan Airlines and the Association of Licensed Aircraft Engineers (ALAE) have extended their longstanding Collective Agreement for a further three year period.

The National Carrier first entered into a collective agreement with the ALAE in the year 1999, which was extended for three more years in 2003. The latest extension will take it up to February 28, 2009.

Peter Hill, CEO SriLankan, said: "In the increasingly competitive world of civil aviation, it is important to ensure close co-operation and team spirit among management and employees, for the benefit of both the company and its staff.

This agreement is a continuation of SriLankan Airlines' policy to have a practical framework through which this can be ensured".

The airline already has similar Collective Agreements with all of its other including the Sri Lanka Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya, the Airline Pilots Guild of Sri Lanka, the Flight Attendants Union, the Sri Lankan Airlines Aircraft Technicians Association, the Manual & Mercantile Workers Union in Singapore, and the Foreign Airlines Employees Union Peninsular Malaysia.

Sunil Dissanayake, Head of Human Resources, said: "Among the many features of this agreement is a revision of salaries which is in keeping with current market conditions".

The agreement was signed by CEO Peter Hill, Chief Technical Officer Captain Dick Hutton Head of Human Resources Sunil Dissanayake and Senior Manager Aircraft Maintenance Ian Dunnin on behalf of the airline, and for the ALAE by President Saman Gunawardena Secretary M.A. Gunasekera and Treasurer C. Satchithananthan.

Saman Gunawardena said: "As a union representing the best interests of employees we are happy that the management gave due consideration to the high demand in the industry for Licensed Aircraft Engineers specially who are Certified on Airbus 320, 330 and 340 types and also recognized the valuable revenue we are generating for the company through the provision of Third Party Maintenance Services for other airlines".