NATS - Are You Happy?
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NATS - Are You Happy?
Yesterday I listened to the red barons audio message to his NATS followers and have to admit that I was rather surprised at what he said.
1: He apparently believes that there is no split in the workforce (that one I'm not too sure about).
2: He doesn't believe (I wish I could remember his exact words) that there is any unhappiness amongst the troops.
Simple question, are you at a happy unit.
To give you a clue how happy we are at my unit, I've re-registered under a new pseudonym just in case somebody at work recognises my usual pseudonym.
1: He apparently believes that there is no split in the workforce (that one I'm not too sure about).
2: He doesn't believe (I wish I could remember his exact words) that there is any unhappiness amongst the troops.
Simple question, are you at a happy unit.
To give you a clue how happy we are at my unit, I've re-registered under a new pseudonym just in case somebody at work recognises my usual pseudonym.
What plane of existence does RB inhabit? I've never known an unhappier nats and thats before the masses realise how screwed over they have just been.
In his defence though, there is nothing like a crap manager to polarise the staff in to a common, oposing view = team building (do you think this was his plan all along?)
In his defence though, there is nothing like a crap manager to polarise the staff in to a common, oposing view = team building (do you think this was his plan all along?)
StandupfortheUlstermen
Join Date: Dec 2001
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Unhappier than being outside NATS, personally yes, can't speak for the rest of my mob.
Potless, Not good at the Ice Station then? New boss not brought joy and rapture to the unit?
Potless, Not good at the Ice Station then? New boss not brought joy and rapture to the unit?
Join Date: Feb 2001
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Yep, thoroughly p***ed off! here, people are starting to give up those extra things they no longer see as either worth the money, or worth the time it takes them to do. things like LCE, OJTI validations over and above unit minimum. we are reaching the end of our tether. Oh and to top it off, we allegedly move into the brand new sports centre they've built opposite THIS year, but still no timetable as to when we are meant to train on the new stuff they are putting in, or to train on the 15 year old radar software they are putting in. Still, as long as the ocean move in on time, thats the place officially open!. Tea and bonuses all round!!
Is it me?, or is the idea of a bonus culture in a safety based enivironment a bad idea??
Is it me?, or is the idea of a bonus culture in a safety based enivironment a bad idea??
Join Date: Apr 2005
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worked for serco before being tuped over to nats 3 years ago...
bring back serco all is forgiven..with nats it seems to be all give and take, we keep giving and they keep taking.
were running one controller down on the union /management agreement, assistants are becoming an endangered species, and the whole unit runs soley on the goodwill of the staff to have their rosters chsnged at a few days notice,or cover for sickness.
4 highly experienced controllers are due to retire within 14 months,more than a third of our compliment,the first in possibly 5 months, and there is no sign of a replacement program.
in my youth air traffic used to be about providing a safe and expeditious service, not bean counting and buzz word bollox initiatives.
bring back serco all is forgiven..with nats it seems to be all give and take, we keep giving and they keep taking.
were running one controller down on the union /management agreement, assistants are becoming an endangered species, and the whole unit runs soley on the goodwill of the staff to have their rosters chsnged at a few days notice,or cover for sickness.
4 highly experienced controllers are due to retire within 14 months,more than a third of our compliment,the first in possibly 5 months, and there is no sign of a replacement program.
in my youth air traffic used to be about providing a safe and expeditious service, not bean counting and buzz word bollox initiatives.
Join Date: Dec 1999
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To answer the title......yes.
I do a job I dearly love.
Work with great people.
I cannot remember a day where I didn't have fun.
I get paid a good salary.
I get a good amount of time off/leave.
I am not forced into any extra work.
Yes, of course I feel sad for our ATSAs who have been increasingly marginalised, and NATS have lost a great deal of ATC knowledge by not utilising them to the fullest extent. There are concerns and issues, of course - as with any job - but yes, I am happy.
I do a job I dearly love.
Work with great people.
I cannot remember a day where I didn't have fun.
I get paid a good salary.
I get a good amount of time off/leave.
I am not forced into any extra work.
Yes, of course I feel sad for our ATSAs who have been increasingly marginalised, and NATS have lost a great deal of ATC knowledge by not utilising them to the fullest extent. There are concerns and issues, of course - as with any job - but yes, I am happy.
Join Date: Feb 2006
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I'll second Gonzo's post.
Having NATS as a second career, I can appreciate the fact that it is a very good company to work for.
However, although I am happy overall, I honestly believe that the company has become more divided over the past few years...
The move of TC down to Swanwick has done nothing to enhance relations, altohugh it makes good business sense being together.
Swanwick being near CTC has caused more ructions because operational staff visit CTC fairly regularly and come away with the perception that it is overbourne with staff.
Throw in Banding (I think that units should be paid at different levels, but believe the banding we have at the moment is unfair to some units); the recent pensions, the growth of management posts, the continued employment of people who have failed in projects etc, and you get quite a bit of material for people to be unhappy with.
Potless - in reference to your point 2 - Mr Barron inferred that any unhappiness within NATS staff was caused by the UK economic situation and not to do with what is happening to NATS!
I do think NATS is a good company to work for, but it is slowly being eroded... we as a workforce need to try to pull together to make sure that Ts & Cs etc are not degraded even more...
Having NATS as a second career, I can appreciate the fact that it is a very good company to work for.
However, although I am happy overall, I honestly believe that the company has become more divided over the past few years...
The move of TC down to Swanwick has done nothing to enhance relations, altohugh it makes good business sense being together.
Swanwick being near CTC has caused more ructions because operational staff visit CTC fairly regularly and come away with the perception that it is overbourne with staff.
Throw in Banding (I think that units should be paid at different levels, but believe the banding we have at the moment is unfair to some units); the recent pensions, the growth of management posts, the continued employment of people who have failed in projects etc, and you get quite a bit of material for people to be unhappy with.
Potless - in reference to your point 2 - Mr Barron inferred that any unhappiness within NATS staff was caused by the UK economic situation and not to do with what is happening to NATS!
I do think NATS is a good company to work for, but it is slowly being eroded... we as a workforce need to try to pull together to make sure that Ts & Cs etc are not degraded even more...
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YES!!! I follow GONZO's words!!! I enjoy my job....I have fun everyday....I think they pay us ok.....I think i get lots of time off (having had a chat with my dad last week - he has a proper job working Mon-Sat!!!).
It is the only job I have ever had....and been doing it for alomost 17years now. But i always seem to think its the NATS people who have never had a different job who moan!! They've not seen life on the other side.....so moan about their good life!!
(Ok...rant over...maybe Im just a real happy chappy today as having worked all xmas and new year, today is my first day off.....and the rest of the world struggled back to work....the sun is shining.....
)
It is the only job I have ever had....and been doing it for alomost 17years now. But i always seem to think its the NATS people who have never had a different job who moan!! They've not seen life on the other side.....so moan about their good life!!
(Ok...rant over...maybe Im just a real happy chappy today as having worked all xmas and new year, today is my first day off.....and the rest of the world struggled back to work....the sun is shining.....
)
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I have plenty of things to be happy about. I think we are paid reasonably well, not overpaid but commensurate with a profession.
If you are operational there is still the opportunity to come in, work, unplug and go home and not be terribly bothered by management.
Where folks sometimes get hot under the collar is when they start looking at other peoples jobs - something I have never understood is this fascination with what someone else gets paid, or what they do to earn their money!
Yep, when I go to CTC there are lots of people about, some of them - shock horror - drinking a Starbucks! I dont know what they all do. But if you stroll into Swanwick coffee lounge, guess what - there are lots of people about drinking skinny lattes. I know I'd be pretty hacked off if people started questioning what we were about, so I can see some of the CTC folks' feeling of being bashed about.
Do I feel as happy as a year ago? No. Because I have a horrible feeling I wont have the pension to retire on that I have been planning for. And I feel that management probably feel they they have the upper hand over us in the current pay negotiations.
But compared to what I am seeing and reading about every day, as another company goes to the wall and more people are made redundant... some folks on here need a reality check.
If you are operational there is still the opportunity to come in, work, unplug and go home and not be terribly bothered by management.
Where folks sometimes get hot under the collar is when they start looking at other peoples jobs - something I have never understood is this fascination with what someone else gets paid, or what they do to earn their money!
Yep, when I go to CTC there are lots of people about, some of them - shock horror - drinking a Starbucks! I dont know what they all do. But if you stroll into Swanwick coffee lounge, guess what - there are lots of people about drinking skinny lattes. I know I'd be pretty hacked off if people started questioning what we were about, so I can see some of the CTC folks' feeling of being bashed about.
Do I feel as happy as a year ago? No. Because I have a horrible feeling I wont have the pension to retire on that I have been planning for. And I feel that management probably feel they they have the upper hand over us in the current pay negotiations.
But compared to what I am seeing and reading about every day, as another company goes to the wall and more people are made redundant... some folks on here need a reality check.
Join Date: Oct 2004
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Am I allowed an opinion if not at a unit? 
I am happy, for all the reasons Gonzo put down. I would rather be working for NATS right now than pretty much any other industry the way things are going.
RS
I am happy, for all the reasons Gonzo put down. I would rather be working for NATS right now than pretty much any other industry the way things are going.
RS
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Thanks for the answers so far, however, the question was not really aimed at individuals themselves; more a question as to the feeling at your units.
Join Date: Jul 2003
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I am very happy now as I retired on the 31st December 2008. I was asked by HR to fill in a questionnare when I finished and in answer to the question "how is morale at your unit" I replied "Dreadful"
I received a telephone call a few days later asking me if I would like to amplify my comments at an interview and I replied that I certainly would and be happy to. I never heard from HR again. NUFF SAID!!!
I received a telephone call a few days later asking me if I would like to amplify my comments at an interview and I replied that I certainly would and be happy to. I never heard from HR again. NUFF SAID!!!
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Nope.....
Not happy.....dont get me wrong compared to the real world we do very well but from where we were to where we are now and how the company is going.........
i know a lot of people that arnt happy and i think thiings re gonna get worse......
i know a lot of people that arnt happy and i think thiings re gonna get worse......
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At this present moment in time I don't have a lot to complain about with regard to remuneration and holidays. I have it a lot better than most people. However, the outlook is bleak and as a result morale is slowly but surely slipping away. There are similarly qualified controllers elsewhere in the world handling much less traffic in less complex airspace and getting paid considerably more for it both in salary and benefits.
With the recent bout of bull**** to hail from the CTC and level 4, and with the inevitable continuation of that campaign in the near future, my loyalty to Nats is reducing by the day and the prospect of taking myself elsewhere to earn more than twice as much is very attractive.
With the recent bout of bull**** to hail from the CTC and level 4, and with the inevitable continuation of that campaign in the near future, my loyalty to Nats is reducing by the day and the prospect of taking myself elsewhere to earn more than twice as much is very attractive.
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At Swanwick AC morale has been slowly ebbing away, particularly over the last few months, fell a bit on 19th Dec, wonder why? Not quite hit rock bottom yet, but I'm sure a poor result on the 2009 pay deal will make it very close to rock bottom. A proper pay rise of 4.8% (August 2008 RPI) would go down well and may even boost morale, but I'm sure Barron won't let anything happen to improve morale under his reign.
After the pension result Barron has got us where he wants us and things are only going to get worse. My fear is that when Barron moves on his successor will know that we won't stand up for ourselves and we have opened the door for reducing our terms and conditions forever, regardless of who's in charge, I'm not happy about that.
After the pension result Barron has got us where he wants us and things are only going to get worse. My fear is that when Barron moves on his successor will know that we won't stand up for ourselves and we have opened the door for reducing our terms and conditions forever, regardless of who's in charge, I'm not happy about that.
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Morale here isn't great... but it's down to local issues more than anything. The pension decision landed fairly positively on our lot.
In general, I'm just thankful I have a fairly secure job, earning a decent income at the moment. When things pick up again globally I may look to get out for something new... but at the moment it's a case of sit tight and be happy not to be one of the poor buggers who've lost their income in this downturn.
In general, I'm just thankful I have a fairly secure job, earning a decent income at the moment. When things pick up again globally I may look to get out for something new... but at the moment it's a case of sit tight and be happy not to be one of the poor buggers who've lost their income in this downturn.
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Morale here is on the floor!!!
Management followed blindly by ass kissing yes men have seen to that!
Only when someone has a real nasty will people finally wake up and see how bad it is. Controllers are spending so much of their time here talking about the problems while plugged in and that's a distraction.
As long as we keep them apart and the profits are good then PB and the paper shuffllers at CTC will keep their collective heads in the sand.
Management followed blindly by ass kissing yes men have seen to that!
Only when someone has a real nasty will people finally wake up and see how bad it is. Controllers are spending so much of their time here talking about the problems while plugged in and that's a distraction.
As long as we keep them apart and the profits are good then PB and the paper shuffllers at CTC will keep their collective heads in the sand.
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Controllers are spending so much of their time here talking about the problems while plugged in and that's a distraction.
