Copy of post I made on NATS Forum
I am a 'REP at a busy southern airport, and I think this is the worst deal I have ever seen Prospect recommend (Yes, Conference endorsed the deal and it is recommended by the union and will be encouraged during the visits planned to explain its content). In the meantime, here's my view, for all it is worth...
Pay increase over 3 years is simply inflation based, underpinned by the on off spine point given in April 2006 and the 0.65% 2007 (approx 4.85%). This means an actual pay increase of about 1.5% per year.
SOAL/TOIL/AAVA....is like finding rocking horse s..t. Makes no difference to salary at an airport.
Reduction of future Trainee salaries...maybe ok to a point, but upon validation, they should be straight onto the ATCO scale as they will be doing the same job as the rest of us. (oh, and while on T&D did you know they won't get BUPA membership!)
New Salary Points for ATCO 1's....Again, some getting more than others. Not many ATCO1 posts at the airfields!
BUPA....ATCO 1 and above get Family membership from day 1, while the rest of use get the scraps of individual in 2008, thanks for that one....ALSO,it is not 'free', it is a taxable perk , for every £100 it costs, you will have £40 deducted from your salary in tax...can we opt out of this or is it compulsory??
Reduced Pension Contributions for ATCO1+.....does NATS pay extra into the fund to make up the contributions or do the rest of us subsidise ATCO1+'s from our pensions....I bloody hope not!!!
OJTI Hourly Performance....Ok, as an active OJTI we still get the 3%, but if you have 3 OJTIs on watch and 1 trainee, even doing all hours you can (4/3=1.3hrs per day) you will max at an additional 3% give or take..not such a great bonus for training and always putting your licence at risk!
4% for verifiers etc....No problems, extra work, extra rewards BUT..it should only be for Verifiers,Competency Checkers and Assessors..NOT WM's just because they think they should get it too!!
UHP/NOS.......why should NOS (mon-fri, 9-5) be the full UHP when someone working weekends and no nights or vice versa, recieve a reduced UHP This really isn't fair.
MET, the bit they conveniently left out of the Prospect Brief to members!! We are agreeing to take ATSA jobs (ie..peple lose their job, no work, unemployed etc) when management said Met at nights would not lead to ATSA job loses...we just did all their dirty work for the(EXTRA 2%??)...Well Done Prospect.
Almost done now. I have spent my career with an Atsa as an integral part of my watch/team. I can't believe how callously we are treating them, it really does appear that Management have divided the unions and are now dividing the ATCO grades. Please draw a line in the sand and send a message back to Prospect. When we were told a 2 year deal was the exception, I never thought it meant we were going for 3 yr deals with bonuses for the 'rich' and scraps for the 'poor'.
Please ask lots of questions and think about everyone when you eventually cast your vote. Being a union used to mean we looked after everyone equally, especially those most vulnerable. You decide how many people without a job in the future is worth you 1.5% pay rise each year...what if it was you!!!!
Thanks
Almost forgot...a point made earlier. MET observations only effect Airfields not TC, Area, College etc. Even if we at the airports voted against the deal it could still be implemented by people who it has no effect upon.This most definetly should not be a part of any pay deal