Belgian ATC strike

[flowman]

Brussels ATC will be on strike for 24 hours starting tomorrow (Tuesday 28th Sept) at 1200utc. NOTAM A1919/10 refers.

[TBSC]

Thanks for the info, flowman.

Btwn it's 28SEP tomorrow.

[Double Back]

Darn....Spain strikes on wednesday!

[flowman]

Oops, date changed to reflect reality. :O

[Dozza2k]

Lost my Brussels flights today, they were canx last night. So are they going for a nil flow rate?

[EBBU]

This is the result of years of increasing demands made on belgian controllers.

I have some figures that I would like to compare with other ATC colleagues.
The following numbers are the 'on duty' days/year for an ACS controller working at Brussels ACC. (specific case, not average) The duty days do not include any sick days or annual leave)

2007 231 duty days/20 weekends off
2008 255 duty days/19weekends off
2009 281 duty days/15weekends off

Is this comparable to ATCOs in other countries?
BTW, Belgocontrol management is of the opinion that recruitment is not necessary! (I think I heard that Belgocontrol went from around 340 to around 305 ATCOs over the last 5(?) years)

[andrijander]

Hi,

from MUAC we used to do 244 duties x year in 4/2 cycles which made it to around 61 cycles per year. That was up to last year. We're moving away from that for the better. As in your post that is gross duties, before sickness or leave.

I heard through the grapevine that Belgo is close to bankruptcy. I know they are trying to increase their revenue desperately and by some obscure means (last year's falsified annual report...and by falsified I mean Belgo making up figures and stats as they saw fit i.s.o. using real data; a big No-No if you ask me). I don't know what's going on indoor over there but I would imagine that what EBBU says is the tip of the iceberg. I don't know where all this is going but it seems it has been going on for a while. It seems it will last a while longer.

Anyways all the best to staff, which as usual, will be collateral damage in what seems to be another case of management not knowing the words "accountable" or "responsible".

A.

[10W]

10 day cycle where I work in the UK, with 6 duty days and 4 rest days. Over the year, that's 36.5 cycles, with total of 219 duty days. No leave factored in, so you can knock 30+ days off that duty day total depending on your leave allowance.

Number of weekends off duty are not a factor in any employee agreement. We get paid an unsocial hours payment and therefore are liable for duty on weekends, public holidays, nights, etc, etc. It is dependent on where the rest days on your cycle fall whether you get a weekend off or not.

[BrATCO]

EBBU,
281 days in the year ! that's huge. :eek:
How many hours per working day ? (Or per year)
What about holidays ? can you take them ?


To answer your need for comparison :
My roster :
2 days-on, 1 night, 3 days-off (61 cycles per year), 183 duty "days" per year, plus training.
9 hours per day, average.

Days following a working night ("Sleeping days") are officially counted as "days-off". :ouch:
Otherwise, I would say 243 days-on per year, with a cycle 4 days-on, 2 days-off... Even this way, I don't reach 281 days per year !

Week-Ends :
We usually don't count that, I just did it for you :
17 full Week-Ends off, 9 Saturdays off, 9 Sundays off per year.

Holidays :
We've got 27 holidays per year.
Plus 9 "compensation days" for 31 nights other French centers don't work.

Salary :
And to make the comparison complete, (EDIT) see my next post (EDIT)

Staffing:
I heard yesterday that there will be around 6 or 700 controllers less in France in the next 5 or 6 years (management goal). That' 15-18% less (same-ish as in Belgium it seems), half of them being replaced by "non-radar" ATCOs or even FISOs in small ARPTs (the ones where RYR goes ?).
This, when the traffic is due to rise...:ugh:
(That was our weekly bad news for T&Cs :()


Anyway, Good luck to you ! :ok:

[SINGAPURCANAC]

Between 100 and 156 hours per month. Those hours include holiday,recreational,maternity,paternity,sick leave,bussiness trips, simulators,evrything,
i.e. if shift is 12 hours than 13 shifts is maximum per month. On average less than 10 shifts per atco per month. You are also entitled for 1 hour break during the shift plus,standard brakes after 2/3 hours on frequency.
salary around three times average ....
Do i think that it could be better?
yes,but seems that some other scenarios will prevail. :{:{:{
but that is another story. :mad:
We just enjoy moment . A few moments.....:E

[BrATCO]

Singapurcanac,
I like your "compared to average salary" rate ! :ok:
No need to mention a number and it works all around the world.

My rate is : 2 after income taxes, 2.4 before.

[Thunderbug]

Notam just released

BRUSSELS INDUSTRIAL ACTION - CANCELLED
--------------------------------------
.
THE INDUSTRIAL ACTION AT EBBU WILL BE CANCELLED WEF 2000 UTC
TODAY, 28 SEPTEMBER 2010. ALL REGULATIONS AND SPECIAL PROCEDURES
FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW WILL BE CANCELLED AS WELL.
.
CFMU NOD BRUSSELS

[SINGAPURCANAC]

@Bratco,
for all counts we use so called "Greek model" .No one pays taxes :E:E:E
No difference in rates pre and after taxes, we use different system. Net salary plus taxes. So when you received your salary taxes have been already paid.
Rates remain the same. the only real problem is low "average" :(
that is the reason why our managers have 6 times average. :E

[reivilo]

After a return flight from brussels to egypt yesterday we landed in EDDK (Cologne) (many compliments to the ground handling there).
I heard that one of the contributing factors that Belgocontrol is close to bankrupcy because they don't charge any ATC fees on the regional airports (ie Liege, Charleroi, Ostend, Antwerp). So all the income comes from the traffic at EBBR... I see now why some call the belgians dumb... :oh:

[bruman]

In an interview in a belgian newspaper today, the ceo and the president ofe the board of directors admidded that they need 20 mil € to pay the salaries in 2011.

No more money in january meens no more ATC in belgian.

No more ATC in Belgium, no more flights to brussels, no more Nato and no more capital of Europe.

Belgium is becomming more and more an african country.

Hopefully Eurocontrol will step up soon and take our airspace including the controllers, But i think it is only a wet dream for me and my colleagues, unfortunately.

[BeT]

and yet the powers that be continually state that they want to take back the airspace from MUAC up to FL315!

How they continue to spout this drivel under the current set of circumstances is laughable.

[bruman]

yes it will rather be dfl 165 then dfl315, although within Belgo a lot of people have wet dreams about rising the DFL, but as it is now and without any recrutement its absolutely not possible to take over some airspace from muac.

I hope that one day Muac takes over Belgo airspace and hopefully us controllers as wel.

[Lon More]

I hope that one day Muac takes over Belgo airspace and hopefully us controllers as wel.
Back in the 1980s, at the request of the RLW/RVA we did a study on taking over everything right down to FL 075. The biggest stumbling block then was seen as the attitude of the staff in the ACC

[bruman]

I promise you the attitute of the controllers now is completely different than in the 80s, For us the sooner the better, speaking for myself that is.
And the benefit of it all is you dont have to take all of the administration people and the management with you. Just take the operational staff.

Two things that the controllers want to get rid now is, the management and the goverment.

They just want to do their job and let the world turn.

But as I said before it is only a wet dream, this will never happen, because they will find a solution belgian style, this meens give money and all will be ok ( for 1 year) and than its start all over again. :ugh:

[hoaiphuongNgo]

In VietNam ,the ATCs are prohibited to strike!:ugh:

[Daermon ATC]

A prohibition to go on strike does not necessarily mean that you don't strike. :E

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_Air_Traffic_Controllers_Organization_(1968)

By the way, read something that MOL had sued Belgocontrol? Should be a good moment to declare bankruptcy... but again I wonder how this is determined as Aena has 14.000.000.000 euro deficit and is not considered broke. :ooh:

[fly_ebos]

Any thoughts on the going back to standard SID & STAR procedures for traffic to/from Charlerloi? Rumor has it that it is a direct result from MOL filing a complaint with the Belgian courts?

Not only Ryanair affected, but 'new' procedures do apply to all in & outbounds