Industrial action ..... unfortunately .

[zed3]

Moderator , if possible please leave this in Rumours and News as this greatly affects the chaps at the pointy end .

There is a very strong chance of industrial action at the Eurocontrol Maastricht UAC in early June , affecting the Belgian , Dutch and German airspace above FL245 .
Whilst managers post e-mails of congratulations to operational staff on greatly enhanced productivity , beating last year's September high traffic levels , in May already , they are totally disregarding social agreements concerning human factors secured many months ago . This is not about money , despite net salary reductions all round and increased pension contributions .
Enough said . Our apologies , the reputation of the Maastricht UAC Ops Room speaks for itself .

[BYveterangirl]

What have Maastricht UAC mismanagement been up to now then?

[MarkD]

A clarifying thread rename would help I think.

[zed3]

Threadnames are the eyecatcher , that's the conundrum , one can be loud and vociferous or quietly succinct , how to bring the point over ? BYveterengirl ..... sounds as if you have The Knowledge ?!!!

[BYveterangirl]

2nd hand only. But I've been hearing for quite a while now that morale is at an all time low. There were already strong rumours of industrial action late last year. My info was that management had lost the plot. Not an unusual state of affairs in a good many ATC organisations these days!

[zed3]

Spot on . One has to go back to the 70's to find an understanding management worthy of the title . The present lot couldn't manage their way out of a wet paper bag . Thanks for your support .

[millerman]

Zed3 - let's hope we don't let them off the hook like we did last year by trusting our (incompetent) DG :mad:
It is unfortunate that it looks like we will have to take this action for the first time in the centres history, but we can only take so much. Local management's actions beggar belief some times but it just seems that they are trying to see how far they can push us - Talking to various people in the ops room I don't think it is much further!!!
Apologies to all the people it will affect in advance but if management had kept their promises this situation would never have arisen:sad:

[Buster Cherry]

this greatly affects the chaps at the pointy end .


Bollocks. All that does is put a few extra minutes on their day.
What about the countless re-routes / FL caps which may have to be undertaken thus resulting in the necessity to load/burn extra fuel? It is the Airlines pocket which will be dented resulting in more cutbacks.This will no doubt be passed onto staff & passengers alike with increased ticketing in the long run.

Please don`t misunderstantd what I am trying to say, I have every sympathy with your plight. Moral in the industry seems low as a whole but to say it effects the chaps/chapesses at the pointy end seems very shortsighted.
That said, Thanks for the heads up. Looks like it could be a busy month ahead.
Now where did I put that leave application form ?

[Avman]

Could be a tad more than just a few minutes to your day Buster Cherry.

[Buster Cherry]

Makes no difference to me personally. Comes with the territory. I`ll still be enjoying a cold one at 1900hrs. Will make my day a little busier though.(& our friends in France)

[Lon More]

Received this today from TUEM (union representing most of the Staff at Maastricht). NB it doesn´t mention who will strike, Admin or Ops Staff.
Maastricht, 02.06.2006
STRIKE
Dear members:
Due to the deals agreed but not put in place, and deadlock in negotiations,
TUEM ANNOUNCES A STRIKE
Date: 09.06.2006
Start: 06.30 hrs
End: 10.00 hrs
Too many broken promises, going back several years. Incompetent management only interested in furthering own careers at the expense of those actually doing the job. Increase in workload coupled with a reduction in salary for ATC Staff. My ex-employers make John Prescott look good.:ugh:


See you all on the picket line

[zed3]

Operations .

[Blank-EFIS]

Thanks for the heads up !
If you guys think that action is what is required, then i will happily put 10 mins on my flight time to make sure that we have "on the ball " and rested controllers on the ground .
Perhaps the complaints from the airlines over extra fuel burnt , and missed shedules will kick your management into honouring the deals they have agreed !!!
(we can but live in hope!)
If action is necessary then i say " go for it " :ok: :ok: :ok:

[CaptainO'n'G]

To the People of the Great Uprising,
So you are striking a blow for justice. Well done
First - How about telling the truth. You have NOT had a salary reduction. It has been frozen, big difference, your spending power has been reduced, you still receive the same amount of cash. If you want to experience a pay cut, get out of your civil service cocoon and join an airline (they are the people you are harming by your action). You might get in in time for the next round of cuts.
Second - Where is this union to represent you and your bitches? Has the management got them in their pocket, or is it too weak to fight for you.
Third - Are you so simple that you allow all your grievances to keep accumulating. Don't you know that management will keep turning the screw to get the most for their buck, sorry Euro. Of course they are looking after themselves, you do not of course. You now think for three and a half hours you have won, Don't you believe it, management doesn't just get even - they will beat you. At the end of the day they will still be management and you will still be the peasant.
Fourth - Don't try to gain support with your insincere apologies. If they were meant, you wouldn't affect people who can do nothing for you, and you only antagonise by your actions - I am one. We provide for your very generous livelihood.

Blank EFIS
Pls get your facts straight. The only way you will have a tired controller at MST is their own doing. Duty rosters are such that the rest periods are sufficient, that is if they were worked in full. So save yor sympathy for the pax and your colleagues who have been disrupted.

[zed3]

CaptainO'n'G , Post number 1 , I see , I suspect you are a Euro "manager" . QED . If I compare my salary for 2005 against 2004 I earned e2816,81 LESS in 2005 - I have just checked my official Eurocontrol annual salary returns used for tax purposes . If you give me your office number I will bring the paperwork and prove it to you . The truth is now out .

[Lon More]

Captain O´n´G too many g´n´t, I think. As Zed3 said, probably a middle manager Your attitude is the one that caused the situation. Don´t forget that the very existance of Maastricht UAC has been threatened by experts in the past, but it´s still here.
There is a real reduction in salary. pension and sickness contributions have increased. Actual hours worked have increased ( Yes, I know we had it easy in the past, but we are not afforded the luxury of swanning off for a cup of coffeee and a quiet smoke whenever we feel like it, nor can we postpone our decisions until next week like management do - again, part of the reason the mess arose).
Insincere apologies? When was the last time Euro went on strike? NEVER. You are probably too young to remember the last action, a training stop, which only had an internal effect, but led to a complete cave in by management.
All avenues have been exhausted by TUEM, unfortunately most management representatives couldn´t lie straight in bed. Every time action has been threatened in the past promises to speed up the dialogue were made by them, only for these promises to be `forgotten` as soon as the proposed action was cancelled.
I would say `wake up and smell the coffee´ but I think that you may have already drunk too much.

Blank EFIS look at your charts, the size and location of the Maastricht UIR probably means more than an extra 10 minutes to fly round it unfortunately

BTW, O´n´ G, just in case you don´t know who I am, 3FO, retired DECO Supervisor, Training Officer and member of the New ODS Development Group.

[Hotel Tango]

My opinion from my perspective, for what it’s worth, is that there's much much more involved than simply money (and the Captain knows it). For years there has been an array of issues on the table and management have persistently played a game of “talk-and-delay”, reaching agreement with the unions after unnecessarily protracted negotiations and then renegading on them at the last minute. It's been going on for so long that finally the affected staff have snapped. I know that the decision to take industrial action has not been taken lightly and is very much regretted. But when all other avenues have been well and truly exhausted it becomes the last possible course of action, albeit not a pleasant one. Arguably a competent management could have avoided this, not by giving in to all demands, but by reaching a good compromise and then, and this is key to the issue here, honouring and implementing their side of the deal. They have almost systematically avoided doing this by hiding behind a maze of political manoeuvring and skullduggery, whilst treating the staff with disrespect and contempt. No wonder we have reached this very sad state of affairs. Maastricht Control’s excellent reputation hangs in the balance, but please don’t blame the controllers.

[BYveterangirl]

There are rumours that German ATC is also going out the same day. Can anyone confirm?

[millerman]

CaptainO'n'G seeing as though you are so "well informed" you will also know that the union asked management to clarify the situation regarding industrial action. The union and the controllers wanted a series of steps to be made ( such as a training stop, work to rule etc ) thus being able to make a point without affecting the customers in the beginning.
Management declared that these steps were illegal and that the only course of action is to strike!!! They believed that we would never do this but as always they have completely misjudged or ignored the feelings of staff. So management has brought this action to a head themselves.
With over 4000 flights through our airspace daily and capacity reduced to around about a 10th of the norm for the period of the action I am sure that it will be noticed by everyone. Ironically once the action is over we will hve to work our arses off for the rest of the day to cope with the demand our actions will have created ! However we will be more than happy to do this as we believe we have to make our feelings known.

[Avman]

Don't undersell us Millerman :) , it's more along the lines of 4500 flights per day. We recently broke the record with 4528. And let's not forget that approx 4350 of these are in an 18 hour period.

[flowman]

Maastricht UAC handled 4217 flights today.
0630- 1000 last Friday you handled 1152 flights
Latest word is that the strike may be extended to 2300, that would affect over 4000 flights.

[flowman]

If Maastricht reduce to 3 sectors per UAC with standard capacities delays will be around 22, 000 minutes before re-routeing and level capping.
If the strike is extended with the same criteria to 2300, delays will exceed 316,000 minutes (without counting recovery regulations afterwards).

[fredchabbage]

Flowman.excuse me for asking how did you come up with those figures?
I have a degree in mathematics but wouldn't know where to start working that out.Quite impressive.
One thing for sure, you are correct in suggesting it would be one heck of a day in delay.

[Avman]

Computerised predictions by CFMU tools.

[flowman]

Yes, as Avman says. We've got a bloody great machine that does all that. We can simulate a given ACC configuration and input appropriate capacities onto known traffic demand.
The answer in this case = enormous delays

[zed3]

..... and why ? because Maastricht has always had the capacity and willingness to accept any extra traffic , which could not go via France for example . Management always encouraged this and up went the traffic figures making it the most efficient centre in Europe . Flexibility , efficiency and safety is the name of the game ..... up to a certain point .

[flowman]

What has not been mentioned so far is that FFPE (the union representing IFPU staff and some FMD controllers) has also issued a notice to strike to Eurocontrol management. If the two strikes co-incide it will be absolute mayhem.
Expect the world cup to be a clue as to exact timings.:(

[zed3]

Aaah , the second front !

[DE1]

There are rumours that German ATC is also going out the same day. Can anyone confirm?
This is negative! German ATC will definitely not go on strike at the same day. (Maybe just working "according to the book" would be sufficient to support our colleagues from Maastricht!?) Don´t expect german controllers to work harder to compensate for any UAC-DLA!

www.gdf.de (http://www.gdf.de) is still in the negotiation-process with DFS-Management.

Expect Strike earliest at the end of June.

[Eurobrit]

If Maastricht reckon they have to strike, then so be it!
As a customer of Maastricht (80 % of my flts go through Maastricht) I have nothing but respect for the service they provide. They are extremly helpfull, flexible and willing to do what ever is nececssary. Without the Maastricht ops room we would realy be up the creek.

Brgds EB
(German carrier with 3 letters)

[Tin-man]

To Captain numb nuts, wonderful literary piece, worthy of most politicians... me thinks it's too late... yep..... too late.... the whole of your head has disappeared up your 'nether regions' . I have heard that if you say things often enough, no matter the subject you start believing them to be true, no?

Anyway let's discuss management... Just look at the promotions made over the past 18 months? Some of them truly astounding! And by that I mean bad... A few words spring to mind.....incompetent, indecisive, lack of man-management abilities, and normally useless at their former primary job. "Captain" (oh dear... delusions of grandeur??) I don't doubt for a second that you fit one of the above, or maybe you are a loyal "golfer"? :D

[Avman]

Many thanks for your support and kind compliments Eurobrit. Your post has done the rounds in the Maastricht Ops Room.

[30W]

It's very sad to see you Maastricht folks have to go down the industrial action road! I do however FULLY support your actions as they are the sad result of continued failure of your management in their dealings/treatment of yourselves.

You are not a militant unit, your record and industry reputation is up there with the best of ACC's. I know such a group of professional folk won't have taken this decision either lightly, or with any joy......

The charter industry will be severly disrupted by your action, unlike schedules we can't just cancel flights. The whole of this coming weekend will be a nightmare, and I along with many others will probably have their whole weekends worth of work and leisure time turned upside down as a result:(
If my flight is running say 6 hours late - my working day/night will run 6 hours late also......... not fun be assured.

This aside, again I state I fully support your action - I hope your management take note and realise that user support and sympathy is with the front line staff, not with them.

30W
(UK Charter Airline Capt)

[fredchabbage]

and its a "here here" from a north-west england flight ops. (east of liverpool)

[Lon More]

From a thread in Jet Blast, unfortunately it sums up management's attitude
Thank you for your loyalty to our company. We are here to provide a positive employment experience.Therefore, all questions, comments, concerns,complaints, frustration's, irritations, aggravations,insinuations, allegations, accusations,contemplations, consternation and input should bedirected elsewhere
:ugh:

Nice to see the gestures of support from the airline industry
The decision to strike was not taken lightly The staff at Maastricht have always tried to go the extra mile for our customers. One of the first lessons drummed into trainees was, "We're down here because they're up there; not the other way around."

[zed3]

Exactly Lon ..... and the management's attitude is that Ops is there because management is there ! The beatings will continue until morale improves .

[30W]

Flowman,

The public viewable sections of the CFMU website seem to carry no news of this action as yet. Have all operators been informed? What is the CFMU's contingency advise to carriers regarding re-routing etc?

Seems it's all going to be last minute panic, with no one grabbing this issue by the horns at an early stage.

Hope I'm wrong!!

30W

[Radar]

Having watched this thread develope over the past few days, I'd like to thank both Eurobrit and 30W for their words of support. It's heartening to know that our normal level of service is both noted and appreciated. I hope this coming Friday doesn't prove too arduous for either of you but, you can rest assured, if you are flying after the flood gates open again, we'll be working our nuts off to get the show back on the road and you guys home again, as quickly as we can. Thanks again for your support.

[flowman]

30W
There is an AIM under construction by management, I don't think it will tell you anything you don't know already.
The strike will be dealt with as any other strike: measures will be applied pre-tactically based on the information available at day minus one. Re-routeing advice will be given on the same basis.
The situation is developing all the time so to publish information too early would be counter productive. For example up until a few minutes ago it was thought that IFPU would be going on stike on the same day. That has now been changed to the 15th.
The Maastricht union also expects a degree of solidarity from neighbouring ACCs so any re-routeing advice issued without consideration of that would also be less than helpful.
It's not a case of last minute panic, more a case of wait and see and deal with it like any other strike.

[TrafficTraffic]

Good Luck - I feel you may need it.

TT

[Dash-7 lover]

30W - well said. Im working in ops of Friday and looking forward to an interesting day whatever the outcome. Ops staff will have to deal with it in airlines all over Europe but that's what we're here for. At least the weather's nice!!!

[30W]

Flowman,

Thanks for the update! I understand that other ACC's intentions at the moment maybe somewhat 'fluid' - and so plans are difficult to finalise. This mornings AIM from yourselves does at least ensure ALL operators know of the impending action :ok:
http://www.cfmu.eurocontrol.int/chmi_public/ciahome.jsp?serv1=aim&aim=00083180

radar, zed & Colleagues

Yes, I know you'll be working your hardest both pre, and post action - hence I believe industries continued support (operational staff anyhow.....know that feeling??....lol)

One question - This action will cause severe delays (accepted). This generally involves news agencies becoming involved with the story at all levels, national, local etc. For yourselves, this news will possibly be in many different countries. What PR is the union fronting for both press releases and public knowledge etc?

My half warning, and fear for your action is that your managements PR and Press sections will be far more geared up, and efficient than your unions. The general public will be massively inconvinienced on friday, and across the weekend no doubt as the aftermath 'catchup' continues. Excellent PR from your union is needed so as NOT to completely alienate people. Your troubles with your management must be both strongly and expertly presented otherwise you will simply be made to look like a bunch of overpaid troublemakers by management PR. Please ensure that there are VERY proactive channels on Friday through which your plight is properly presented to multi-national media.

Good luck:ok:

30W

[CaptainO'n'G]

Girls, I appear to have caused you some irritation, but for the wrong reasons. Time for corrective action.
Believe it or not - I am NOT, NEVER have been, or likely to be an employee of Eurocontrol at any level.My Eurocontrol connection is a cuctomer - my employer pays route charges and we use your services. I have visited Brussels and Maastricht centres. Every night when in MST, i drank with Eurocontrollers, ( what marvellous titles some had on their business cards), Perhaps Lon More you were one of them if you used the airport bar in the late 80's
Hope this has cleared up the mistaken identity and no one has received a punch on the nose, and you are all big enough to call the suspect and tell him/her they were mistakenly maligned when it was some ----------- (fill in as you feel) from outside

Lon More
Correctly you say I didn't know about the cessation of training, how could I? It was kep in house, excellent move. I would like to see a similar move this time, e.g. the unfufliied management promises, they must be recorded. They must have come about as trades, i.e. you give 'x'and management gives 'y'. Unfortunately, you gave, but did not collect. How about yo uwithdraw these concessions until management makes good its commitments. That way everything stays within the walls and no adverse publicity gets to us common folk.

Zed 3
You may have received less in your pocket, I did not say that. I said you had not had your basic salary cut, that does not mean you didn't have allowances 'adjusted', and y usay your pension contribution were increased. I hope the pension fund is administered by in independant body and can only be used for your old age. Too many of us have been victims of the company spending the fund on useless things such as management bonuses, etc.

Tin-man,
I see you like name calling, and not a very original choice in my opinion. I have an Irish engineer who can't say his 'h's, so, with a little imagination I will call you 'Tick-Man'.
Continuing your management discussion. I quite agree- I have been promoted to the level of my own incompetence (feel better now?) But one has to stop somewhere and the fourth ring and extra cash make it all bearable. I also agree it is rathe rpompous to put ranks on forums - I could have used Úpgraded F/O. But, I am not too original either.
I take it you have all the qualities for upper management and all at the age of 14, but nobody has noticed you on the bottm of the ladder
P.S. I don't play golf eithe. Rather sad isn't it.

Seriously, to all you sky marshals - Keep up the good work, keeping us all apart in the air.

[Lon More]

O'n'G my apologies for leaping down your throat originally Your post however seemed to indicate insider knowledge.
Yes, I did use the Airport Inn in the 1980s and knew a lot of the Rosie crews; I didn't have a business card though. I believe some people went so far as to create their own airline - just to get a jump-seat ride :ugh:

This is a situation which has been developing over a number of years and until now has been kept in house,
The training stop was proposed again. Unfortunately management has declared anything other than a strike to be illegal - another attempt at intimidation.
On the subject of trades, management attitude has always been, "If you do X, we will give Y". Unfortunately as soon as the staff's side of the bargain wass fullfilled, management moved the goal-posts and created new demands.

Depending on the way you look at it, the basic salary has been cut. To ensure equality of salaries at establishments throughout the member states a percentage correction was made. This has been decreased for Maastricht. Ergo, an effective decrease in salary. Pensions are unfortunately administered by Eurocontrol and are also decreasing. We now have the equivalent of the old airline "A" and "B" scales.
Too much money is expended on management jollies such as "away-days" Now if they could have an "Away-year" .....

The "golfer" tag was a bit cheap. However it refers to a small clique within the organisation ( and they know who they are ) which seems to have replaced the Masons in an attempt to feather their own nests.

[garp]

Is there already any news on the final negotiations of today?

[zed3]

Lon , thanks for that , it just about sums up the whole sorry situation . Promises made , promises broken - read contract , by management . Usual story . I fear though that management is going to pull the rabbit out of the hat and then sit there thinking " see , we won " . No news yet .

[30W]

I fear though that management is going to pull the rabbit out of the hat and then sit there thinking " see , we won "

Zed, sadly they nearly always have - the workforce in these situations generally have always given way far more than the management have :-(

If there is to be some pre strike settlement, make sure it's what you are truly happy with. There will only be regrets further down the line if not, and action on that basis will be flagged as breaking an agreement reached now.......

Remember, management spend huge amounts of time and money off doing all these 'tree hugging' type courses, and learning how to negotiate to win - they are skilled in the area - the workforce is not......

30W

[flowman]

After a successful meeting between TUEM and the DG tonight the Maastricht strike is cancelled.
The IFPU strike planned for the 15th should also be cancelled subject to ratification by FFPE members of an agreement reached by union reps this evening.
Common sense seems to have prevailed.
Well done to all those involved in these negotiations.:ok:

[Lon More]

It appears to be a victory for common sense, however I wonder how much of what has been promised will actually be delivered.

[zed3]

Common sense never plays a part of Maastricht management's plans . We shall see . Been here before ?

[30W]

I'm glad you seem to have resolved your problems - I presume the agreements that seem to have been made with management now have to be voted on by the workforce?

30W

[zed3]

No it has been accepted yesterday evening by the union board . All we have to do now is sit back and wait for management to do their bit ..... once again !

[refplus20]

PLANNED INDUSTRIAL ACTION CANCELLED
Valid from 08 Jun 2006 to 09 Jun 2006 (released 08 Jun 2006 at 09:20:35)

----------- PLANNED INDUSTRIAL ACTION CANCELLED ------------
.
THE PLANNED INDUSTRIAL ACTION ON FRIDAY 9TH JUNE BY TWO TRADE
UNIONS IN EUROCONTROL'S MUAC AND CFMU HAS BEEN CANCELLED.
.
CFMU BRUSSELS

[fredchabbage]

Congrats!

We look forward, as always, to continue flying thru your bit of sky.

Enjoy the good weather and the world cup everyone.

[ATC Watcher]

Now that the threat is gone some comments :.

According to both parties all of Maastricht Union Claims have been agreed upon or will be addressed. On appearances, the union won and management lost.

Appearances only, and my impression is that today the local management is further isolated from the controllers. Also some of the motivations for people to go on strike were not on the Union list (e.g. the roster issue) and are still unresolved. The unhappiness and frustrations are still there.

The hard fact is that everyone still has to work together, summer traffic has started but the main hurdles are still ahead. I sincerely hope that good sense and humility will win at the end of the day, that the real underlying problems will be addressed (and they can easily be resolved, believe me!) and that a normal friendly working relation between management and controllers can be restored.
Hiding that fact will only push the problem a few months.

There was a long period of time in the Centre history , that Lon More and Captain O'n'g can recall, where coming to work as a controller was a real pleasure. The past won't come back, times have changed, but why basic respect for your fellow workers has disappeared ? That is not so difficult to restore, with a bit of good will from both sides.

Maastricht Controllers are one of the finest workforce I have ever seen, and the current capacity levels (over 70 a/c per hour!) Proves it still exists. Motivation to give a service to pilots and airlines is still there.
Things like: Willingness to test new tools (e.g. the data link/ Petal) in difficult traffic conditions, airspace reorganization to improve traffic flows or accommodate neighbors, etc... All these are possible in Maastricht without any problems.
The only problem is the controller/management relations.
It is sad that only under the threat of industrial actions problems are addressed, and even then in a confrontational manner..
After those last days that included requisitions letters and court actions threats, there is a lot of repair work to do.

Hoping for the best for all of you at the sharp end.

[Lon More]

current capacity levels (over 70 a/c per hour!)
It's gone down a bit then if that's now the total?:cool:

Yes, I really enjoyed going to work for most of my career. It was only the last couple which were less than enjoyable. Made a lot of good friends - even the ex. there.

One of the major problems is that management appointments are not done on the basis of ability or suitability but for political reasons. Going back more than 20 years one nation has supplied all the Head of Ops.. The same nation is the one that, despite promising the delegation of its upper airspace, constantly worked to undermine the very existance of the Centre. When the handover was finally made it was done grudgingly, and still the sabotage attempts continued. A number of the earlier saboteurs were even promoted to Supervisory positions.
If you think working for one employer can be bad, try working for 5 sets of civil servants ( the Eurocontrol ones + 4 sets of national ones) and their political masters ). This further complicates matters as all important decisions have to be ratified by all of them.

I'm afraid this is not the end of the matter.

[CaptainO'n'G]

Congratulations - you have kept your dignity and an enviable record of never having gone on strike.
Now for the bad part, as I said earlier - management will now be going all out for victory - therefore ensure you have all of your CYA precautions at full strength. This is not a change of sides, Just never met a management with dignity in disputes.
Hope the management will honour all their promises sooner rather than later.

Lon More,
You unwittingly disclosed the management problem. When you said you thought I had inside info - absolutely correct. No offence taken over the wrong ident, (memo to get authentic squawk for future). But, remember the time period and places I spoke of. That plus infrequent updates. Maybe that is the same info your M is using. Another point I always thought to the centre's benefit was the promotion from the floor. Unlike so many other companies, where the old school tie is the entry requirement, at least your organisation used aviation people. But, the old English song comes to mind 'The working class can kiss my etc.,' I am sure you know what I mean, now I see outsiders are being sneaked in. Also, I was given to believe in European organisations, salary was sacred, any other renumeration could be 'adjusted'. OoD again, the bad new world has caught up with Europe.
Incidentally, the business card remark was not meant for you, just one of the memories, when I read my efforts today, it does sound bad, apologies. Being as you were one of Geertie's boys - you must be OK.

[Blank-EFIS]

CaptainO'n'G
Please excuse my tardiness in replying to your post, but if you would like to re-read my post, you will see that i have not quoted ANY facts. All of my post was my OPINION !!!!
After having spent the last few days flying around europe and through MAST control many times , I will respectfully stick to my opinion, and i know for a fact that many of my colleagues and friends would support me.
With regard to your reply , I would suggest that you get out from behind your desk and try flying accross europe without the help of the guys at MAST!
Also regarding the "extra 10 mins or so " , the comment was made to indicate only my support of the action if neccessary, and if a delay of 30 mins or more was given the i would accept it without question knowing the reason behind the delay.
Lon More,
I do realise it would take more than 10 mins to fly around MAST airspace and i appreciate the sentiment, but i was just indicating a willingness to accept a delay to my schedule !

[30W]

I'm afraid this is not the end of the matter.

I was both suspicious in my own mind, and concerned that this was the case. Your union has come to an agreement. From a 'coalface' point of view this may not have solved very much for you, you have however sadly now lost the upper hand you had. I did warn that management are very clever when it comes to such issues......

Given the workforce must have already voted for industrial action, I would expect my union representative having made headway in negotiations to call off the industrial action PENDING consultation/voting on the proposals with it's membership. It seems this is not the case:(

[flowman]

30W
My understanding is that management have agreed to pretty much all of the unions demands. The union now have a framework agreement, signed by the DG, meaning that any dispute now has to be resolved within 18 weeks or industrial action can follow (any union members feel free to correct me!).
This is a huge step forward from the previous prevaricating by the human resources people who were quite happy to drag things on for years without progress or resolution
It would be legally difficult to continue with industrial action on the basis of a breakdown in negotiations when management have capitulated to such a degree. When all is said and done this is a very good result for the union.

[TrafficTraffic]

Hatching and chickens spring to mind - but there you go.

Perhaps the profressional aviation community at large would be interested in what exactly are the demands of the unions at Maastricht.

(Note I said unions!)

TT

[millerman]

I hope the 18 weeks deadline is not just a delaying ploy from management to avoid a strike in the busy summer traffic:suspect:

It's nice to see you are still taking an interest Traffic Traffic - how are the exams going?:D

[Lon More]

Taken from the TUEM update;Management was desperate to find a way to stop the strike. Fair enough, that is their right and task.
However, the manner in which this was attempted was disgraceful!

TUEM has to notify management of a strike with 5 days prior notice. We did it 7 days before. To show good will, TUEM decided not to go on strike on the 7th after we learned about the MCG meeting on that day.
In the afternoon of the 7th, local management sent us a bailiff with a subpoena to appear at the Maastricht court the next day. By then, all EC members had left and President and Vice Presidents were in Brussels to meet the DG, depriving TUEM of the chance to prepare any defence. Management is well aware that our lawyer is based in Brussels and is not allowed to defend us in the Netherlands.
Short notice requests for office duties to enable EC members to attend court were denied. However, the EC nevertheless managed to find a Dutch lawyer, prepare all files and enable EC members to attend court within two hours. This was all possible thanks to Mr. Weinberger, our lawyer, and Muriel, our secretary. And the OPS room had arranged people to work for EC members within 20 minutes.

Management wanted to challenge the legality of the strike, claiming that the reasons for the action were not significant enough, and that we would cause too much damage during the World Cup. A fine of 100.000,-€ was to be issued if TUEM took its members on strike on the 9th, and another 20.000,-€ for each day of strike until the 11th of July.

This time management really proved they will use every dirty tactic to defend their interests. All this showed their priorities: figures and delays over staff welfare. Would it not be refreshing to see them fight as hard for their staff (which is their “greatest asset”)?
The already bad relationship between local management and the OPS room has been damaged profoundly by this behaviour. Have they ever thought that they finally might have pushed it beyond repair?


THE NEAR FUTURE

Our campaign for decent working conditions is not over yet!



Judging by the difficulty I just had to log on, not many PPRuNers were watching the football

[Hotel Tango]

The infantile and pathetic skulduggery tactics used by local management - as described above - has only served in further damaging already fragile controller/management relations. The bottom line to much of the trouble is their total lack of people management skills. The only method they know is lies, bullying and threats. Plenty of us have had first hand experience of this.