The general membership of the Air Line Pilots' Association of Singapore (ALPA-S) will be stripped of their right to ratify decisions made by their leaders in disputes with SIA management, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong's office said in a statement.

Foreigners will also be banned from the union's 22-member executive council, the statement said. Currently two non-Singaporeans are allowed on the board, which represents 1600 members, almost half of whom are foreigners.

The crackdown was announced after Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the son of Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew, warned the union over the weekend not to "take on" the government.

Lee's comments followed a vote by ALPA-S members this month to sack their entire leadership over controversial wage cuts imposed by SIA to counter a slump caused by the SARS health crisis.

The ALPA-S has long been regarded as the most willing union in Singapore to challenge the government, which has kept a tight rein on industrial action through restrictive laws with just two days of strikes in the city-state since

The ALPA-S is not a member of the National Trade Union Congress umbrella group of unions, which is considered a partner of the government in nation building.

Until the changes were announced by the government, it was the only union allowed to seek membership ratification of its leaders' decisions.

"We cannot allow confrontational industrial relations to add to the problems of SIA, Changi Airport and our travel industry," the prime minister's office statement said to explain the crackdown.

"It will put jobs and Singapore's economy at risk."

The statement described the relationship between SIA management and the ALPA-S as "troubled".

"They have had repeated episodes of protracted negotiations, many resulting in deadlock," it said, pointing to the members' ability to instruct their leaders in industrial disputes as a key reason.

The current controversy began in July when Singapore Airlines, which is majority owned by the government, pushed through wage cuts of 16.5 percent for pilots and 11 percent for first officers.

Management claimed the wage cuts were necessary to turnaround its business fortunes after travel demand slumped by up to 70 percent because of SARS.

Union members felt their leaders gave in too easily, with their anger intensifying after the airline announced a net profit of S$306 million (US$178 million) for the September quarter.

ALPA-S spokesman P. James, who was voted out of office by the membership and will leave his post this month, told AFP that changing the law would not necessarily lead to better relations between managament and the pilots.

"It's how goodwill is built up between employers and employees; it has to be a two-way street," he said.

In announcing the crackdown on ALPA-S, the government also said SIA must improve its human resources policies.

"Management must forge a common understanding with its employees on the way ahead and explain its plans to grow the company," the prime minister's office statement said.

"SIA will have to pay competitive wages to retain the services of their good staff and gain the loyalty of its pilots and other staff."

One of the few groups that consistently monitors and speaks out against the government in Singapore, civil rights organisation the Think Centre, said the new law was a "knee jerk" reaction to anger over the union's leadership.

"If the elected unionists do not serve the need of the membership then the members have a democratic right to choose a new leadership," Think Centre president Sinapan Samydorai said.

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