Anotherthing: Thank you for recognising what was probably an overstatement!
and as usual your point is well put. I am interested however in your opinion that controllers are only just receiving a "fair wage". What determines "fair"? Who are you comparing it with? I note you used the word "obscene" in your reply. Although the context is that you don't think the rises have been obscene - it must have been in the back of your mind as an appropriate word to use.
I have to say I was more than a little amused when I read that in a previous pay round NATS senior ATCO's got a huge pay rise on the back of a reduction in the pay for student controllers as any rise had to be "self financing". Excellent negotiating as this will of course reflect through in final pensions - which they would be a whole lot nearer on time served.
The capping of pensions I mentioned in my previous post would prevent this from happening. Of course contributions would be capped to meet the maximum pension to be paid.
Before I get going on AAVA's (at Area52's request!) can you clarify one point for me? Is overtime paid for the hours worked in addition to the AAVA for turning out on a rest day?