Originally Posted by Mad As A Mad Thing
This isn't about how ATCO's are paid or job security relative to other professions. This is about whether you as an individual can justify screwing colleagues at the bottom of the ladder to fund your own payrise.
From your post it would appear that you already feel salaries/job security/time off etc are at least satisfactory compared with other professions. So if you are already doing so well, do you really need that extra few percent so badly? The crucial point being which group of your colleagues will you be screwing in 3 years time to get a few percent more than if the pay deal was to be applied fairly across the board & underpinned by a minimum amount for those for whom an extra 3% is nowhere near the kind of sum those higher up the scale receive.
This is not about "screwing colleagues". The people that this will affect are not yet employed by NATS and hence they will make a judgement whether they wish to apply for a career with this as a starting salary.They are certainly not colleagues,just prospective candidates to join the organisation.
I understand that NATS was/is spending around £50m on training with a failure rate around 30%. it is clear that this can't be allowed to continue either financially or with that failure rate. What this deal does is attempt to redistribute some of that money into the payscales for those that ACTUALLY VALIDATE and become a useful and productive ATCO. Those people then progress quicker up a scale to a higher maximum where they will spend the majority of their career. I for one can't see the problem with that as either an objective or indeed as a result.
This really is a no-lose situation because if the supply of applicants dries up NATS will have no choice than to increase the starting salary again and the savings produced now will already be in the pay scales.
I think it's called short term pain for a long term gain. 4 years in the job will mean nearly £50k/year on this deal at a Band 5. Not bad for what could well be less than 2 years as a trainee.