In a way to save outlays, the British Airways CEO is asking all the staff to work for free for 4 weeks; in fact he’ll be taking the lead and bite the bullet too.
Of course the CEO can well afford 4 weeks of such voluntary work, but those who rely on a salary to pay off mortgages, rents and day-to-day expenses won’t be too keen on this idea, and they are planning on a series of strikes to get their points across.
I’m sure the CEO would have been smart enough to come up with more workable alternatives. Four weeks of no pay out of 52 weeks of the year works out to be the same as a 7.69% pay cut over a year. Surely a steadier, albeit reduced, stream of income is easier to swallow than a period without any subsistence!
Unfortunately the airlines are doing it tough in this economic climate, and if they cannot entice the travelling public to loosen their purse strings, they will have little other choice than digging into the employees’ hip pockets.
英航行政總裁為節省開支，竟想出奇招，呼籲全體員工無薪工作四週，他還會身體力行，自己帶頭響應。
行政總裁他家底雄厚，義務打工對他也許問題不大，但對一眾要供樓、交租、養家的員工來說，一整個月沒有收入卻非同小可，所以他們打算一連串罷工以示抗議。
我想行政總裁這樣聰明，不是不會想到可以換換方法吧，其實停薪四週，把4除以52即是7.69%，一年內減薪7.69%也可收到同樣效果，對員工沖擊也沒那麼大，相信總會較容易接受吧。
航空業要熬過這場金融海嘯，真得出盡其謀，打動不到乘客的口袋，便唯有打員工的主意了……
This evening saw another recurring episode of massive delays on the railway!
Melbourne is plagued by train delays and cancellations all the time. Fortunately by law, the railway company has to offer compensation to holders of season tickets when its service targets are not met. The company only has to ensure that 98% of the published services are operated and 92% of all services arrive within 6 minutes of the schedule, and then it would be able to avoid handing out free daily tickets for compensation. But it’s definitely easier said than done …
I originally wanted to take the 17:58 train, which preceded the 18:10. But because all the trains that call at the same platform were suffering a delay, the 17:58 only arrived at 18:12, two minutes later than the next train scheduled. A lot of trains before and after that one were similarly delayed.
This string of delays must have hit the punctuality rate pretty hard, and I wonder why the railway company didn’t choose to make strategic cancellations instead, for the sake of the punctuality rate. They could have, for example, cancelled what was supposed to be the 17:58 and turned it into 18:10. Then not only would they be able to call that service ‘punctual’ by rule, but it would also look a lot better in the eyes of the passengers. What has stopped the company from doing this is anyone’s guess, but my suspicion is that the cancellation rate for this month is already on the verge of tipping over.
The railway company has been giving out compensation every month this year so far. I’ve already bagged two free daily tickets since April, and am probably set to receive another one this month. Admittedly I now have one fewer reason to grumble about the trains: a discount of 6.3% every month is pretty generous of them!
今晚下班，火車又大遲到了！
墨爾本火車脫班早已是家常便飯，可幸政府規定，服務不達標便得給持定期車票的乘客賠償一張日票，其實火車公司祇需保證每月運作起碼98%的班次而不少於92%的班次抵站晚點不超過六分鐘便可免此苦了，不過……
我本來想乘17:58那班車，再下一班是18:10，怎料行經同一月台（站台）的全部列車都有延誤，那班17:58的到了18:12才到達，比原定的下一班車還要晚。那班車之前和之後不知多少班次，都落得這個下場。
我心想，站在公司立場，一連這麼多班次誤點，肯定拖累這個月的準點率，為甚麼公司不策略性地取消一些班次，來換取好一點的準點率？例如把17:58那班取消後改頭換面當作18:10那班，不但該班次和往後的班次仍都可以符合「六分鐘即算準點」的要求，而且乘客看起來沒那麼礙眼，但公司沒出此下策，難道是這個月的取消率已岌岌可危需要保住？
這家火車公司由年初至今，沒有一個月不用給乘客補償，我自四月起也受惠兩次了，看來本月還會有，一次補償相等於為一張月票打6.3%折扣，總算可給我和一眾乘客消消氣吧。
Of course the CEO can well afford 4 weeks of such voluntary work, but those who rely on a salary to pay off mortgages, rents and day-to-day expenses won’t be too keen on this idea, and they are planning on a series of strikes to get their points across.
I’m sure the CEO would have been smart enough to come up with more workable alternatives. Four weeks of no pay out of 52 weeks of the year works out to be the same as a 7.69% pay cut over a year. Surely a steadier, albeit reduced, stream of income is easier to swallow than a period without any subsistence!
Unfortunately the airlines are doing it tough in this economic climate, and if they cannot entice the travelling public to loosen their purse strings, they will have little other choice than digging into the employees’ hip pockets.
英航行政總裁為節省開支，竟想出奇招，呼籲全體員工無薪工作四週，他還會身體力行，自己帶頭響應。
行政總裁他家底雄厚，義務打工對他也許問題不大，但對一眾要供樓、交租、養家的員工來說，一整個月沒有收入卻非同小可，所以他們打算一連串罷工以示抗議。
我想行政總裁這樣聰明，不是不會想到可以換換方法吧，其實停薪四週，把4除以52即是7.69%，一年內減薪7.69%也可收到同樣效果，對員工沖擊也沒那麼大，相信總會較容易接受吧。
航空業要熬過這場金融海嘯，真得出盡其謀，打動不到乘客的口袋，便唯有打員工的主意了……
* * *
This evening saw another recurring episode of massive delays on the railway!
Melbourne is plagued by train delays and cancellations all the time. Fortunately by law, the railway company has to offer compensation to holders of season tickets when its service targets are not met. The company only has to ensure that 98% of the published services are operated and 92% of all services arrive within 6 minutes of the schedule, and then it would be able to avoid handing out free daily tickets for compensation. But it’s definitely easier said than done …
I originally wanted to take the 17:58 train, which preceded the 18:10. But because all the trains that call at the same platform were suffering a delay, the 17:58 only arrived at 18:12, two minutes later than the next train scheduled. A lot of trains before and after that one were similarly delayed.
This string of delays must have hit the punctuality rate pretty hard, and I wonder why the railway company didn’t choose to make strategic cancellations instead, for the sake of the punctuality rate. They could have, for example, cancelled what was supposed to be the 17:58 and turned it into 18:10. Then not only would they be able to call that service ‘punctual’ by rule, but it would also look a lot better in the eyes of the passengers. What has stopped the company from doing this is anyone’s guess, but my suspicion is that the cancellation rate for this month is already on the verge of tipping over.
The railway company has been giving out compensation every month this year so far. I’ve already bagged two free daily tickets since April, and am probably set to receive another one this month. Admittedly I now have one fewer reason to grumble about the trains: a discount of 6.3% every month is pretty generous of them!
今晚下班，火車又大遲到了！
墨爾本火車脫班早已是家常便飯，可幸政府規定，服務不達標便得給持定期車票的乘客賠償一張日票，其實火車公司祇需保證每月運作起碼98%的班次而不少於92%的班次抵站晚點不超過六分鐘便可免此苦了，不過……
我本來想乘17:58那班車，再下一班是18:10，怎料行經同一月台（站台）的全部列車都有延誤，那班17:58的到了18:12才到達，比原定的下一班車還要晚。那班車之前和之後不知多少班次，都落得這個下場。
我心想，站在公司立場，一連這麼多班次誤點，肯定拖累這個月的準點率，為甚麼公司不策略性地取消一些班次，來換取好一點的準點率？例如把17:58那班取消後改頭換面當作18:10那班，不但該班次和往後的班次仍都可以符合「六分鐘即算準點」的要求，而且乘客看起來沒那麼礙眼，但公司沒出此下策，難道是這個月的取消率已岌岌可危需要保住？
這家火車公司由年初至今，沒有一個月不用給乘客補償，我自四月起也受惠兩次了，看來本月還會有，一次補償相等於為一張月票打6.3%折扣，總算可給我和一眾乘客消消氣吧。
Comments
放四週無薪假我都可以接受...
只係一次過話放four weeks，就倉促左d啦。下次先話三個月內放一星期，再三個月睇下情況點咁員工都應該感覺舒服d既。
嘩，係我都罷工！（純粹投訴點解有個咁無腦既CEO）