Sorry for creating a misspelling scandal.
Thank you for your post out the gap. I'm not sure I understand what the independent assessment that determined the IAA can easily afford to give you all a 6% increase without PAX having to pay a cent is? Is there some time lag between when this conclusion was reached and today's economic climate that has them saying they can't afford it?
Your union leaders are doing a terrible job in communicating your plight to the public. The Irish Independent Thursday January 21 2010 comments:
"Figures this week from the
Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) reveal that the top 10pc of Irish air traffic controllers in
Ireland are earning between €170,000 to €230,000 a year, while the average pay is €160,000.
Basic starting salary for fully qualified controllers is just under €51,000. With a shift allowance included, it comes to nearly €75,000. The maximum basic pay for controllers, including shift allowance, is more than €112,000.
The IAA says it pays the equivalent of 30.5pc of every controller's salary towards their pension.
In the
United States, according to the government's
Bureau of Labour Statistics, the average pay for the more than 26,000 air traffic controllers there, excluding overtime, in March 2009 was $109,000 (€77,000) -- that's less than half the average in Ireland.
In Britain, a newly qualified controller gets about £26,000 (€30,000), while the average pay is £60,000 (€69,000) and can rise to £90,000 (€103,000), according to National Air Traffic Services (NATS). In France, controllers are paid about €110,000 on average."
No one in your union has come out and corrected any of these figures so the public has to take them at face value. Of course this builds up resentment if you then delay their travel plans. Why can't you be honest with the facts.
I agree your defined benefit pension is the Rolls Royce of retirement plans but paying a portion yourselves isn't unreasonable these days and the deficit isn't entirely your managers fault.
Your timing is just wrong. The figures are out there, people say you already have enough. People resent the safety boogey man will get you thing and they don't appreciate a small goup of individuals having the capability of black mailing us by holding our country to ransom.
I believe some form of no strike clause will have to be introduced. You can tell me how you'd feel about that later next week.
If the Govt. hasn't got the guts it takes then in the not too distant future perhaps some form of remote ATC will help resolve our predicament.