Here are some brief facts about the Air-Transport Executive Staff Union (AESU).
It was established in 1965 to represent the professionals, managers and executives (PMEs) of the SIA group of companies and SATS. It has nearly 1,700 members
#1 SIA Group of Companies CEO is a Member!
Transformation is the buzzword in Singapore and the air transport sector’s workers can’t run away from it too.
To broaden its outreach to encourage as many executives to join the union and benefit from its programmes to upskill workers, AESU made changes in its approach towards recruiting members.
Since 2016, the union entered into collaborative partnerships with some companies under the SIA group and SATS and this paved the way for PMEs in managerial grades all the way up to the CEO of the company to be General Branch (GB) members of AESU.
#2 $500 Top Up for Skills Training
What do you do when there are nearly 10,000 courses listed on the SkillsFuture course directory? That was the number last year; the list is probably even longer now.
AESU worked with SATS in March 2017 to focus on some 30 critical skills deemed essential for workers in the air transport sector.
The company also topped up $500 worth of SkillsFuture Credit for all Singaporean administrative officers in the company. Some 300 of them benefited.
So, with the government’s $500 dollars already in the kitty, eligible staff got a whopping $1000 worth of SkillsFuture Credit to fund any of the 30 courses they want.
Furthermore, union members could have made use of the $250 worth of funds from the Union Training Assistance Programme (UTAP) on top of the SkillsFuture Credit.
And guess what? In August last year, AESU also nominated SATS and SIA for the SkillsFuture Employer of the Year Award. Both companies were recognised as top employers which took SkillsFuture training of its employees seriously.
#3 Grooming the Next Generation
Youth engagement has been another focus. The union’s been having youth campus workplan and kopi-chat sessions to engage the younger members. That’s when it shares its latest initiatives so that the younger generation can give their sentiments and feedback to the executive committee (exco) about what they think the future AESU should shape up to be and focus on.
Such chit chat sessions also give AESU a chance to look out for potential leaders as part of leadership succession. The union said it has identified some potential youth leaders and one of them is already currently serving as an exco member.
