Thanks Spotter. You do miss the point i'm trying to make. If the duties are factored in then we,as a union,have the ability to put a definite finish date to any deal. As it is, people can volunteer to do a number of shifts and if they have not done them all by the end of 2003 then they can be carried on into 2004. now this is way beyond the end date for this pay deal but NATS are still benefitting from it.
If it is spread amongst everyone then it will mean around 5 extra duties per year but with major benefits then built into the salary scale FOREVER. This way it also means that individuals do not become reliant financially on the overtime money. It also means that it is much easier to track in terms of SRATCOH as this was a major problem with OCT last year. This way also gets away from the situation of management phoning individuals to do extra and coming up with cosy deals depending on the desperatness of the situation. I recently heard of an ATSA4 being offered TRIPLE time to do a duty-now where does that leave the ATCO daily rate in comparison??
We do have a major problem over night shifts down here and a voluntary deal can only make that situation worse. I think the deal will be voted in by many units but they know that they will not have to change their Working Practices at all to get the additional benefits.
I do accept that many people do not want extra duties but as I said before we have to accept that NATS can't go on like this and properly rostered duties are the best way we have of keeping a track on just what is going on.