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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Dorset
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Originally Posted by HEATHROW DIRECTOR
I met a young doctor in the intensive care ward of a large local hospital. He said he was looking forward to his day off (note singular - one day) after 21 days working!
Having read HD's many postings in these columns, I have appreciated his wit, sense of humour , professional experiences & general comments.
His medical analogy serves to draw attention to the facts of life, away from ATC, where conditions of employment are often diabolical. As such, they give us a sense of perspective by illustrating the absurdities of life elsewhere (outside of ATC).
Whilst appreciating his latest post, I have to say that it, the situation in Spanish ATC & situations elsewhere in the modern world, only instil in me the greatest trepidation that the modern commercial world is going mad in trying to squeeze the last drop of blood out of professionals who, twenty years & more ago, were held in high esteem by their employers & the general public.
It is often said that Trade Unions abuse (or abused) their power, & maybe they do & they did. But, the boot is now firmly on the other foot.
These pages are full of examples where some employers are doing nothing less than "taking the piss" out of their professional employees & imposing horrendous terms & conditions upon them, staggeringly, within the appropriate regulations !
It is time for those professionals to stand up & oppose this madness & force a change in the regulations more commensurate with how they used to be.
Regrettably, I do not think that they will !
His medical analogy serves to draw attention to the facts of life, away from ATC, where conditions of employment are often diabolical. As such, they give us a sense of perspective by illustrating the absurdities of life elsewhere (outside of ATC).
Whilst appreciating his latest post, I have to say that it, the situation in Spanish ATC & situations elsewhere in the modern world, only instil in me the greatest trepidation that the modern commercial world is going mad in trying to squeeze the last drop of blood out of professionals who, twenty years & more ago, were held in high esteem by their employers & the general public.
It is often said that Trade Unions abuse (or abused) their power, & maybe they do & they did. But, the boot is now firmly on the other foot.
These pages are full of examples where some employers are doing nothing less than "taking the piss" out of their professional employees & imposing horrendous terms & conditions upon them, staggeringly, within the appropriate regulations !
It is time for those professionals to stand up & oppose this madness & force a change in the regulations more commensurate with how they used to be.
Regrettably, I do not think that they will !
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Dreamland
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I have been hearing nasty rumours that the UK's SARG are considering scrapping SRATCOH, replacing it with a "unit specific" scheme.
This gives me grave cause for concern, given the intensive research that was undertaken into ATCOs fatigue before SRATCOH was introduced, that we could be potentially back to the 16+ hour shifts that used to be worked at my unit.
We are already pushing and sometimes exceeding the limits of SRATCOH, due to staff shortages, regular requests for extentions of airport hours, etc. There is always the moral pressure applied, e.g. the airport needs the business, we are losing money, etc.
SRATCOH is the only protection we have, or we could be in similar postions to those already mentioned by others.
This gives me grave cause for concern, given the intensive research that was undertaken into ATCOs fatigue before SRATCOH was introduced, that we could be potentially back to the 16+ hour shifts that used to be worked at my unit.
We are already pushing and sometimes exceeding the limits of SRATCOH, due to staff shortages, regular requests for extentions of airport hours, etc. There is always the moral pressure applied, e.g. the airport needs the business, we are losing money, etc.
SRATCOH is the only protection we have, or we could be in similar postions to those already mentioned by others.
