Was anyone around in previous strikes?
I've been reading this thread with interest and increasing amazement as some of the posters seem to be winding themselves up like mini water spouts...
I
was around when the last NATS ATCO strike took place - so long ago that I'd only just started shaving and most of you guys were still on the 'drawing board'; and it achieved bu**er all except to sour relationships on watches and between watches.
Setting aside the issue of what's considered to be a fair pay rise and the future of the NATS section of CAAPS, anyone planning to call a strike ballot or to go on strike needs to take account of some unpalatable 'home truths'.
1. ATCOs and particularly NATS ATCOs are not perceived by Joe Public to be under-paid over-worked employees who are being exploited by their Employer.
2. ATCOs and particularly NATS ATCOs are not held in the same regard by Joe Public as under-paid over-worked staff such as teachers, nurses, social workers or junior 'house' doctors.
3. The state of the UK (and Continental European) economy with an almost certain recession on the cards has already seen several airlines go out of business and any action by NATS ATCOs that pushes a few more over the edge is certainly not going to endear the workforce to Joe Public
(have a chat with a few stranded Zoom passengers or Alitalia shareholders to gauge their view of what might be a fair pay rise for folk annually earning in excess of £60K - £70K a year...) 4. HMG still owns 49% of NATS and the airlines + BAA a sizeable chunk.
5. Politicians (and especially the current government lot who are unquestionably, a 'busted flush') are extremely sensitive to public opinion. The sight of large numbers of highly-paid ATCOs camping out in the car parks at Swanwick, Prestwick and other higher-profile airport locations will not create sympathy amongst Joe Public especially if the disruption causes more airline failures.
6. It would then only take the stroke of a politician's pen to open up the NERL en-route market as any 'approved' provider is now eligible; and to sell-off NSL to the highest bidder.
7. Whilst it's entirely true that the rank-and-file operational workforce would still be needed (and that many of their managers and admin staff would not), only your salary is protected by TUPE - pension arrangements are not. Therefore, the short-term effect would be to end the 'final salary' pension scheme for
all employees (not simply new recruits) and the medium-term effect on salaries would not be the outcome desired.
There were plenty of hard-nosed bullish ATCOs working in the US before the ATCA strike and we all know what happened there without public support and in the face of a determined government.
Please understand that I'm not venturing to suggest what is or isn't a fair pay rise or whether or not the NATS pension should cease to be 'final salary' for new employees: I'm merely seeking to put the discussion and some of the more extreme views into the context of a crumbling economy, airlines having gone bust or tottering on the brink, UK unemployment likely to reach 2 million by next year, house reposessions increasing, businesses creaking and a government that's run out of ideas, innovation and cash but which remains desperate to be re-elected and so would welcome the opportunity to prove it's still in control (especially if Joe Public was like-minded).
