Can anyone tell me if this is part of the pay deal on which NATS ATCOs are being asked to vote ??
There is nothing mentioned on it in the Prospect recommendation paperwork, but there again as we have experienced from the pay regrading briefings, there does seem to be sparse knowledge amongst Prospect BEC members as to how exactly things have been worked out (transparently !!) so the missing information is perhaps understandable.
If it is part of the deal, then it strikes me as strange that a union would be seeking to cut the pay of any part of its potential membership and/or a part of the structure (ATCOs) which it represents.
Call me cynical, but it seems to be yet another example of 'stealing from the poor to feed the rich' which characterises the philosophy of this current proposal.
Gonzo
WRT the decrease in salary; yes, I can see why one might be put out, but let's be honest, anyone who doesn't have, in writing, the payscale they'll be on before joining the company (ie. when you send back the 'Yes, I'll accept the offer of emplyment' letter), only have themselves to blame. IIRC that same letter detailed the salary I'd be receiving. Up until that point there is no commitment on either side.
You make a fair point ... but as NATS has advertised the going rate in adverts in the press, etc, then they leave themselves open to action because of it. Suing NATS for the difference in pay because of the misleading adverts may be the way for future Students to make up the pay difference
055166K
There is no shortage of applicants for ATCO jobs. Maybe now we will get trainees attracted to the job by factors other than money. For the rest, the door is over there!
A slight touch wide of the mark there. Whilst numerically there may be no shortage of applicants, there is a very
real shortage of
suitable candidates. The number of people who exist in the population who want to do the job for altruistic reasons is a drop in the ocean of the numbers of people who we need to get in to the training system and filling up our shortfalls. That's a fact of life.
So all those other candidates (who you so politely suggest don't bother to even apply) need to be attracted by something. Apart from money, what else is there ?? We certainly can't sell the job on the understanding caring workmates that they may find in NATS. Not judging by some of the posters on here anyway
niknak
What NATS will get is more applicants than they could ever shake a stick at, who are willing to accept that an employer is going to spend in the region of £250K on their training, not ask for a penny of it back, and give them a brilliant job which pays very well.
We don't get
enough high calibre applicants at the moment. And I understand the number who apply each year is steadily falling. A few people getting frigged around by the system and deciding not to progress their application is hardly likely to be a major factor in turning that around is it ??
The NATS recruitment system is a bit of a mess as anyone looking in can see. It is unwieldy, takes far too long, and is uncommunicative and 'sterile' to the applicants. And it is not producing the right number of high quality bums on seats that we all require to stand still, yet alone provide the manpower for the future. Though it pains me to say it, we can't possibly be proud of it can we ?? Shouldn't we be looking to up our game in this area ? Perhaps even get Eurocontrol to do it for us ? As a Eurocontrol State, we pump a lot of Euros their way already so why not get some benefit from it ??
For anyone paying interest to NATS recruiting over the last 5 years, it has not been a great performance. I don't blame those involved in the process, nor those who work hard with little or no resource to try and make it work. I firmly blame the system that we have put in place. And it's time it was seriously looked at and revamped to make us a leader in ATC recruitment. (We're already aiming to be world leaders in Air Traffic Management - cos our Mission Statement says so !!
)