Good points alwaysmovin except...
First, to all Spanish ATCOs....good luck. You have a union that has represented you extremely well to the point you have become a target in these tough economic times. Something similar happened much more recently in the US in 2006 when the Bush government imposed a pay "freeze" on over 95% of the ATC workforce. This endured for about 3 years until Bush left office. They also reduced the pay for new ATCOs by about 15%.
For your comparison, if a "top 1% earner" US ATCO worked a 10 hour shift of overtime for 50 weeks a year they earn about $240K USD or $175K Euros for 2580 hours per year. The base hours of work is 2080. As for vacation - 13 days, increases to 20 days after 3 years, increases to a max. of 26 days after 15 years.
Overall, good points except.....for current US controllers regarding the Reagan comments....Detrimental impact, now?....no other CONTINENT works any where near the amount of traffic the US does. The US still works 50% of the WORLD's traffic. I'm not saying we're better or that others can't. I believe most could given the chance. US controllers just have that opportunity and actually do produce those "numbers." Reagan impact.... About 40-50% of current US ATCOs were less than 12 years old when Reagan left office in '88 and were 5 or less when the firings occurred. They have no idea of the impact of the 81 firings. The impact was on those fired and the industry & FAA for about 5 years. The replacements, like myself, moved on in our careers and have retired or are closing in on the mandatory retirement age. The US workforce is compromised of 45-50% of ATCOs with 15 years or more experience, so much for lacking senior controllers. What is lacking is the 5-15 years experienced ATCOs & staffing at many facilities large & small. Long term effects....the US system using '60s equipment was working record traffic within a very few years. The Reagan firings have had no impact on 95+% of the present workforce unless they were positive. (After all, my "scab" generation got our jobs mainly because others were fired.) The current US ATCO main nemisis is/was Bush II and his administration.
Again, good luck....