Well I attended the briefing today. I went in a committed NO and came out having being converted.
OK they are messing with the pension, but the fact remains, one of the most committed trade unionists I have ever had the pleasure to meet turned round and said that "doing nothing is not an option."
He didn't like it but the figures speak for themselves. I frankly am not prepared to gamble with my pension for the sake of a few thousand pounds when I retire in 20 odd years.
Like it or not NATS can't afford to pay the underlying rate, we would be foolish to believe that a no vote would conjure up any more money, even if it did, it wouldn't last, they simply can't afford sustained contributions of that amount.
My heart tells me that the way to vote is no but my head tells me that I have to protect what I've got for my financial security in retirement.
If it does come out as a no vote, then I am prepared to walk as I'm a committed union member and believe strongly in the union ethic.
I sincerely hope that it doesn't come to that.
At the end of the day we shouldn't be voting against this just to piss off Barron, or just to get back at the unions for negotiating this deal without a specific mandate (the ATCOs have a rather woolly version of a mandate - blame your reps for being hungover and voting it through on a wet and windy Sunday morning).
The negotiating team have, to my mind, done a bloody good job to get the offer that is on the table.
By their own admission they "stand here with heavy hearts." But at least they were prepared to walk when Barron came back with full and final offer after full an final offer. They had even gotten to the stage where they had called the various section chairs to prepare for a ballot on industrial action.
The ATCO's have very little left to give in terms of T's & C's for future pay negotiations. I would be surprised if we got anything like recent pay deals at any time during the next 15 years, especially with the current economic climate.
See this for what it is - PROTECTING OUR PENSION SCHEME
It's got my vote
brummbrumm gets off soapbox to wait for torrents of abuse