If you personally as an ATSA/ATCE voted to reject the pay offer then yes I do ave sympathy with you now feeling cheated. However if you didn't have the balls in the first place to reject the offer the you don't have a leg to stand on when you now try to cry unfair. Your vote to accept the offer is your personal statement as to whether YOU accept or reject the offer presented. That's regardless of whether management, union, media, mystic meg or anyone else tell you it's all that's available. If as many of you as are now complaining had shown some solidarity with the ATCO's in the first place you might not have been in this situation now. If ever there was a time you might have improved the offer it was by presenting a united front with us ATCO's. That was when you should have jumped on the bandwagon.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not an ATSA/Engineer basher. I was an ATSA myself so I do appreciate what you do, & how little thanks you get from management & some colleagues. I (amongst others) tried my best to persuade both the PCS rep at my unit, and as many of the ATSAs as would listen to jointly reject the pay offer with the ATCOs. However it was not to be. I feel you have been very badly let down by your union, and it's now up to all of you to take issue with your union heirarchy & ensure it doesn't happen again, as I too believe that this time you have well & truly missed your opportunity for a better deal this year.
I hope that the big lesson to be learned here is that it's a big tough unfair world. Management are clearly happy to have an adversarial them & us relationship & try to cheat the staff at every opportunity. (evidenced not only by this years pay, but don't forget the bonuses we were all cheated out of last time). Until they change their behaviour we have no alternative but to treat everything they say with utmost suspicion.
Good luck & I hope we all get an outcome we are happy with.