Whilst I will probably be attacked because I am on the 'easy' side of the fence now, I must say I think that the PCS/ATCE approach to this pay round has really only got itself to blame for the present mess.
If the union are not happy with Pay Offer No.1 then they should not recommend and you shouldn't vote for acceptance of it in the first place. It is no good (and probably unenforceable in employment law?) to say that 'We'll accept that, but if the ATCOs get something better we want that, too'. Surely all the issues regarding job security etc are just as true now as they were then. So what makes you think that you are now in a strong enough position to take on Management in a fight for a further increase?
If your union was not prepared to stand up for what it believed in at the beginning and support the ATCOs in their negotiations, what makes you think they will do so now and, more importantly, what do you think the chances are of the ATCOs supporting you now?
My recommendation is to accept the increased offer (which is more than you voted for) and count yourselves lucky for all the reasons expounded by others in the discussions leading up to the vote on the ATCOs pay round.
I'm sorry if this sounds divisive and against the 'Together we stand, divided we fall' sentiment that has habitually run in this argument, but the decision to go it alone was taken by PCS and the Prospect Engineers in the first round. There were strong signals then that the ATCOs would reject the offer but you were advised to ignore that and accept. I'm afraid your union has made your bed, and now they have to persuade you to lie in it!
I am most certainly NOT in favour of driving a wedge between ATSAs, ATCEs and ATCOs, but I'm afraid the political games that PCS, particularly, have been playing this year have done that most effectively. They are now reaping the rewards.
