There seems to be a lot of worry from atc workers about Serco. I believe deservedly so. There seems to be a lot of reassurance being given to those workers by either non or retired atc workers,( the FAA worker, ret'd). I may be not as well informed as I should be but doesn't a lot of this worry stem from the uncertainty about the future for the current atc worker, his terms, provision of safety, etc? I believe it is therefore inappropriate for people who are either outside of the industry or retired from it to try to placate the genuine anger felt or to suppress the worry felt by current atc workers. If Serco are successful in their bid for Nats, I am sure that we all in for a devastating change to our working and subsequent home/family life. There seems to exist a 'grey area' where people speculate about the change and rumours fly uncontrolled. The truth I suspect is that we are all in the dark a wee bit about how these coming changes will affect us all and it is this which creates a lot of the worries.We all seem to have the feeling that wheels are moving within wheels which we know nothing about. The days of feeling untouchable are well and truly over. We are up for grabs.wether we like it or not.This fact coupled with the debacle which has been NERC, the staff re-locations, sometimes onto and then back from new locations in the hope of Nerc coming online does not instill faith in our managers at present. Is it any wonder that we treat any new management organisation with suspicion.We are understaffed, I believe underpaid, occassionally overworked due staffing, re-located needlessly, expected to take on more movements with often substandard equipment or malfunctioning equipment, ie RWY2 at EGCC, and then kept in the dark about our futures.
So to all of the placaters, Ex FAA controllers who are trying to assure us the SERCO are marvellous, hidden SERCO players in this game, etc.Please listen
We are responsible, intelligent individuals who value what we do and the lifestyle that it provides for us. We are not lazy, greedy,scaremongeres who are afraid of change.
We would just like to know what that change may be, how it will actually effect us and those around us, and how we can ensure that although change is surely coming; that is it the best, safest and most agreeable to all the workers who will be most directly effected by it.