One of the problems us "lowly" ATCOs on the shop floor have (well, in my opinion, anyway), is that there is no way for us to know what is happening at the "nitty gritty" level of pay (AAVA, pension, MET, redundancy etc etc) negotiations.
You could become a rep and get involved. These are not paid negotiators, they are people who also hold down a job in the company. As a member you are entitled to put yourself up to replace them if you believe you are up to it.
All we seem to get is a two paragraph wishy washy summary of the latest meeting every few weeks from the BEC, which to be honest doesn't really tell us anything important, like what stage negotiations are at, how far apart we are, what we are being asked to do/give up, or even how emotive things are acros the table between the negotiating teams.
So, it is really difficult to know what to think in regards to the pay claim.
I have already attempted to discuss the current pay claim with my local rep, but I simply get the response that the rep is not on the pay team so doesn't have any information, plus any ongoing negotiations are not for general consumption anyway.
How then am I supposed to make informed decisions without any information.
What, exactly, do you expect? A video blog from the negotiating team updated daily? You aren't furnished with all the details with which to make a decision yet as there isn't yet a decision to be made! When your vote is requested then you'll have the details of what you are voting on laid out before you.
I know it's frustrating but come on... As members we elect an executive, give them some directives on how we want them to represent us but we can't expect a weekly referendum on every action.
The reps are fully aware that there is no chance they could sell a ~2% deal to members. I think they would quite like it made formal so they can put it to vote and achieve a resounding "NO!". Management appear to be willing to play a long game and we all have to keep our cool, stick together and not swallow another pile of manure about how tough times these are.
