i have read quite a few pages now of information and thought maybe its time to put something on myelf.
one thing i will get out of the way is the fact that maybe the union didn't do us any favour 2 years ago or even 1 year ago but i honestly believe that they thought that it was the best thing that could have been achieved. from another point of view the members........where were they? its all good saying "well i voted no" or say the usual i never got a ballot.....well get a move on and make sure you personal details are updated. if you do not get a magazine every so often, then they do not have the correct details for you so change them and then stop whinging and get your say.
all this talk about lets ballot now....lets give the union time to set themselves and do it properly and not do it the wrong way so that it gets thrown out as mentioned. i am quite happy to be patient as i am sure this will all be back dated anyway.
one thing to bare in mind though (i think), not sure how it works at other units but in AC swanwick, (with iFACTS) we were not allowed to put in for any leave in May of this year because of the ifacts training roster so from the point of view of people needing to plan holidays, weddings, etc in particular families wanting to go away so that they can get the tickets cheaper well they couldn't........then it gets delayed a little and we can't put in for leave again during the winter until the ifacts training roster comes out and when it does, i find out i cannot take specific days off because of it. i know of some controllers that have other obligations and need those days off....i'm not too sure if this has been mentioned at all during the negotiations.
its time now that everyone made sure they got a vote albeit 90%+ YES or 90%+ NO but at least that will show that the union has got the ears of 90%+ of its members listening and management will then hopefully start bricking it after the union starts recommending NO.