The 5 percent was always to be given in two parts. Nobody I know has ever seen the agreement so we don't know what they are allowed to do. . .Incidentally, the company was sold for £850m so you would think 5% was £42.5m yet the staff get a total of £5m - £1000 worth each at the time of the privatisation. These shares can't be traded, and can't even be registered in your own name for 5 years!!. .. ."...If it does allow the company to treat you this way then I would be questioning (again?) the ability of your union...". .. .Our union agreed to the above creative accounting. They have also agreed to NATS ceasing making contributions to the pension scheme, and are about to negotiate a massive reduction in redundancy terms. . .NATS plan to make about 950 Engineers and several hundred support staff redundant in the next 5 years, problem is they can't afford to under the current redundancy terms. The solution is to negotiate a reduction for all NATS staff in the hope that Controllers - who think they don't face any threat at the moment - will go for a small bribe and carry the vote.. .The rumour is that the union position will be "...it's going to happen anyway, lets negotiate the terms..."