Ok, let me try to sort things out:
An atc student trying to be recruited to get their atc license is an applicant. Hopefully he will eventually become a colleague, regardless the company he works for. No argument there (apart for the fact that he, sadly, had to pay for his training, which I believe is not the way things should be done in this business).
BTW, USCA has consistenly proposed the recruitment of these new atcos students (demanding, of course, their inclusion in our collective agreement). We have also changed our union rules to let them in, so I guess Daermon and aldegar missed this point.
On the other hand, an atc with full license and instructor rating, working at the job he applied for, who decides to join this venture just for the bonus they offer or because he wants to spend a few months in the sunny Spain, without considering the real meaning of this process and the consequences for the ones that are supposed to be their colleagues, is a mercenary. I can't see it any other way.
Note that in the last 2 years the spanish ANSP already tried to bring atcos from other countries to try to break any industrial action taken by the staff. Namely, italians and argentinians were contacted. In both cases, the unions called USCA (spanish atc union) and after knowing what was behind the scenes, not only they refused roundly, they also send support letters to spanish atcos. I believe USCA has also talk about this matter with Prospect and therefore I'm surprised with the lack of solidarity this forum is showing.
Anyway, there's no veiled threat in here, I must admit here Daermon's got a point. There's not much we can do with such legal framework they've built to enforce this process. I'm just trying to make people reconsider their will to join this mischief. Don't be wrong, it is indeed a worker's decision to play a part in CANSO's game. You choose. We'll see who's next.
Last edited by pamplinas; 27th Feb 2012 at 17:52.