Hi everybody,
First of all, thanks to all of you that understand the very hard times we spanish ATCOs are going through and don't get blinded by the easy and mob focused speaking about our huge earnings and wonderful working conditions. All of that is gone and will never come back, but accepting that is one thing, and accepting slavery is a different one.
First of all, I wanted to focus everyone's attention back to the match that fired the fuel can: hours accounting. In July, they raised our yearly maximum hours from 1200 (I recognize it WAS great, I joined this job for the free time) up to 1670 plus 80 extra 'voluntary' hours (they can force you to 'volunteer' indeed), with no negotiation at all.
But the empty heads in our government don't even know how to add 2+2, so the new maximum hours are not enough in most working centers. In Spain, the maximum working hours for ANYONE is around 1800, common jobs, monday to friday, with weekends and public holidays. That maximum usually decreases if the job has special conditions, like shifts, stress, health risks, works holidays/weekends and so on. People working shifts in my own company NOT ATCs rarely exceed 1500 hours per year. Many spanish ATCOs will work, thanks to a retroactive law (illegal by definition in spain), something like 1750 'aeronautic' hours, I mean, sitting in front of your screen talking with planes (with 20% rests during day and 30% nightly). Then add to that maximum the 'non-aeronautic' hours, like training/formation, medical examinations, backup shifts where you MUST be ready to go to job, but don't get called... For me, a simple mind, every hour I spend doing any task related to my job, is a worked hour, as I can't be with my family. So you can end up with 2000~2200 hours worked a year. Split it in 8 hours per day, you work 250~275 days working... But hey!!! We work nights, do you know the term 'sleeping day'??? Okay, me too, but my company and government doesn't, so they are accounted as off days. You see the point?? In my simple mind that reminds me of slavery.
And in what european country, if your take a one month sick leave due to surgery, p.e., you have to give back to the company the days in that month that you couldn't work??? Apart of spain, I mean.
And about money, forget everything you knew or believed to, the latest 48 ATCOs contracted, are earning ~1700€/month. Rub your eyes and read it again, it's correct, ~20500€/year after taxes. The older of us are way better, a small TWR ATCO earning ~3500€/month, 42500€/year after taxes, working some 1500 hours/year.
And there are LOTS of things to add to these, like 365/24 availability, if the company calls you ANY day and you unhang the phone, you're screwed, the law forces you to attend the service. Many of us NEVER answer a call in our free days from unknown numbers, and my kids are taught not to answer the fixed line, instead my wife does and I am never home nor locatable.
Now the govmt. pres. says that he may need to extend the alarm period for 2 additional months!!! I want to quit my job and I cannot!!!! There are fellow ATCOs that had gone through the interviews to migrate to Germany, and now they are 'kidnapped' and can't take the job offer they already had... It's a mad situation, with no logical solution, and we are AFRAID about where will all of this situation end into...
By the way, I want to say that the vast majority of us are really comfortable working for the military. We are being treated with more respect now that ever in the last year and a half. I've been told that in ACC's the sectors capacity is being respected first time in MANY months since military took control. Previously, the company understaffed the shifts, opening less sectors BUT offering more capacity that even with all the positions open!!! I've seen LEMD's bay photos where 6 planes were scheduled with the same CTOT.
My only hope is that my military status finishes the soonest so I can resign and get back to a better 'civilian' job in computing, hopefully in a different country. Spain is going to need many years to recover from our current govern...
Kind regards to all of you