As 747 says, its probably not a bad thing for some ppl to blow off some steam here. I dont think that there is any purpose in attacking each other personally, but it is good for others to know what the conditions that we have to work under are like.
It makes me really sad when people use this platform (or any platform for that matter) to insult each other or group certain colleagues together in a bad light. There is no point in doing that and it simply will not make the system any better. Lets try to grab the challenges by the horns, and create something positive out of all this. If the ATC's stand together, and put their foot down and say that enough is enough, then management is bound to take note. We are blessed with a compitent and sympathetic Minister at the top. Unfortunately many management staff below him do not show the same vision as he does, and hamper his effort in making our working conditions any better. As do some of our administrative support sections. (yes i know they also face challenges)
I think that its fair to say that most ATC's who are still remaining in this system are here for the love of their jobs and this country. If money was the motivating factor, we simply wouldn't still be here.
I also think that its high time that management take note of our working conditions and make genuine efforts to imrove our situation. Please take note that I'm not only talking about money here. It is very frustrating when OT payments are late or when retroactive allowances are not paid for 6 months etc. Why should I sit at work on weekends worrying about bills that i cannot pay? Or why should I spend the little off time that I have generating extra income so that I can pay my bills?
While on shift recently I received a call from my bank informing me that my home-loan payment has not been received by the bank. This payment is directly deducted from my salary and paid to the bank by my salary section. This put me in a situation where I had to find extra money until I was refunded. When I queried the situation, I was told, with a shrug of the shoulders, that it was the fault of the new system which they work with that causes these problems. There was also no way for me to detect this beforehand as no payslips were received because the machine printing them was broken. Fact is that my credit record at the bank has now been affected by this.
Its these little things that add up and cause endless frustration amongst ATC's. Add them to the extra hours that we are expected to put in due to staff shortage, and you have the results as demostrated by the above posts.
If we lose even only one or two of the six ATC's who are currently negotiating for other jobs, we have a huge problem. In fact we already have a huge problem. What makes the pill even more bitter to swallow, is that we have foreseen this problem years in advance. Numerous meetings were held to discuss the staff shortage, on various levels, yet it all fell on deaf ears. Several safety audits held during the past few years have identified the staff shortage as an area of serious concern. Yet nothing was done. Now, rumour has it, that contract positions will be advertised, offering higher salaries than we earn now. Hopefully someone will have the whisdom as to not insult us to such an extent.
EISHHHHH.....
PS: Voel, any birdies whisper anything in your ears re contract positions? What is the progress on the NCAA?