For those 'not ATC' reading here, I should point out some background on reasonable O/T.
We used to have 2 types of 'overtime'.
One was rostered O/T. It was on the roster when it came out, you could plan your life around this roster, you could also knock it back, but realised that someone else would have to cover. They would also put out a list of shifts that needed covering and controllers could put their hand up to cover these shifts. There are rosters with 30+ shifts to be covered in a month by @20 staff. This is the reality due to chronic staff mismanagement.
The second type was ED (Emergency Duty) this was short term callout,someone unavailable at short notice, thunderstorms imminent, someone is taken offline due incident, etc. Notice for these can be a few hours or 'when can you get here'.
Last EBA the 'Sultans of Spin' didn't like the phrase Emergency Duty and its connotations and lumped it all under the heading of Additional Duty (AD). This sounded so much better.
I believe some industries roster people to be on standby, it is part of the job and is built into the salary, people know they are on call and can adjust their lives accordingly. No alcohol, let family and friends know that they can attend functions but may be called away, etc. ASA can't because they have understaffed and expect controllers to cover.
We have provisions for 'grey days' but due to chronic staffing shortages and mismanagement over years they cannot be utilised.
ASA expect us to be on call 24/7 and to not have planned anything on our days off or have to have had a drink, family outing, spouse working, etc. Rostered O/T is easy. Short term callout (ED) all together different.
We are that short of controllers that we are worn out, the full time spin doctors in Canberra ( I believe Corporate Affairs now have 50 staff) would like the Minister and airlines to believe otherwise. In ASAs controller numbers they count people on long term sick leave, maternity leave, and leave without pay.
The spin from BS castle at the Alan Woods Building is reminiscent of US bankers and ratings agencies bundling up sub prime mortgages as AAA rated investment vehicles, and is having the same result.
The ASA Annual Report should have landed on the Ministers desk today, should make interesting reading when(?) it gets tabled in Parliament.
Last edited by max1; 15th Oct 2008 at 07:53.