All this blarney about public opinion is a complete smokescreen which should NOT disuade ANY union from taking industrial action where management is seen to be taking the pi$$.
I doubt there exists a single individual who has been inconvenienced by a strike who'll say they're in favour of it; especially where it has hit them in the pocket personally, disrupted their business or holiday plans.
Employees should not be expected to be royally shafted by their bosses and do nothing about it for fear of upsetting Joe Public, who for the most part couldn't give two hoots what controllers get paid - they're only the guys at the airports with the table tennis bats after all.
If management spin and the bias to be found in the media are to win the day then we may as well save whatever £$€ we throw away each month in the form of TU-subs and just let the b@***rds walk all over us! All this tosh about pay; people got suspended and that was why the remainder walked, but never let the truth stand in the way of a good story.
Yesterday saw a courageous step taken by those involved, and one which I'm sure wasn't taken lightly - respect.
On a separate note, I see MOL wasn't brave enough to put the boot in where the French industrial action is concerned - knows too damned well how that would go down over there, especially in the media, and what effect it would have on business. Anyone know what "underworked" and "overpaid" is in French? Seems MOL doesn't either...
French Air Traffic Control Strike- 21st January 2010
As for industrial action being outlawed, anyone ever heard of the NYPD's "Blue Flu"?...