Just saw this in my inbox as well.
I'm normally inclined to give EK the benefit of the doubt - but this just plain sucks.
Emirates knew its expansion plans, had years to plan T3, and knows its Skywards membership numbers.
There is no good excuse for this, and it really smacks of EK being cheap. Especially for Silver members, there just aren't that many benefits now - so why bother seeking out EK?
Etihad is starting to look more attractive by the day.
(Of course, at this rate Emirates may become Etihad - or vice versa - so lord knows what would happen then...)