Heathrow get what they deserve
 

After the receipt of our memo at London Heathrow ATC, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the guys from Prospect. Their tireless efforts in negotiating the forthcoming £15k annual retainer for all Heathrow tower controllers have not gone unappreciated.

Finally, big jets = big money

Say what? Is this for real?

All power to Heathrow's elbow, it's just a shame that Prospect aren't interested in representing their members interests to such an extent when it comes to "minor units" interests....:rolleyes:

You'd know if you'd been in matey.:ok:

f--k this for a game of c--ts, Brendan was right the northsiders are a gang of Gobsh#tes.

About time too i say! But why couldnt it have been more money?:confused:

Just read the memo this morning. Great news which should attract young people to NATS' golden unit and help retain staff who may have otherwise moved on.

As this is a public forum would someone care to explain to the great unwashed wihih?

AI

Does anyone know if we get the money in this month's pay?

According to my union representative the HBP (Heathrow Bonus Payment) will come into effect in May's pay and will be backdated to January.

All valid ATCOs will be paid at the same rate.

WTF?

At last, recognition for the fine job you Sharp-enders perform day in, day out!

This is a joke isn't it????????

An extra 15K per annum just to keep people at LL????

If it's true I sure as hell want to know what Prospect will be doing to help out the people at smaller units (some of which ex LL controllers fail to validate at (maybe they're not as good as they thought they were))

Otherwise, I'll be leaving the union pretty damned quickly

Got the letter today.
Looks f$*cking great, but I'll believe it when I see it in the bottom right hand corner.:O

My letter also mentions similar payments to other busy units. Anyone have any info?

At LACC we received a weeks free coffee vend for the tireless work put in by all over the first year of operation. Anyone beat that.....?

RP45

My first instinct is that this has got to be a wind up. As it isn't on the NATS forum (who nobody seems to use these days) I must reply here.

If true then it spells the end of Prospect. There is no way they can negotiate any bonus for the poor overworked Heathrow Tower controllers (it surely cannot apply to the guys in TC who do APP for EGLL) without anybody hearing about it until we have a fait accompli.

In fact my second, third and fourth instincts are also that this is a wind up.

Tell me I'm right please!!

AI

I fully agree with you and 100% hope this is a wind-up, otherwise the company has just screwed itself into the ground.....

Over in the tower yesterday on a practice "TC Evac", and I have to say, morale over there was incredible. Maybe Prospect have played their cards very close to their chest, and may be more to come. :ok:

It HAS to be a wind up !!

Why doesn't someone post the contents of the letter on the NATS forum? Is the GM at Heathrow happy about getting paid less than the ATCOs?

It's a wind up.

Well there is always some element of the truth in any rumour - however wild it may seem!

My missus is an ATCO at a big unit in Middlesex and she brought the memo home yesterday. It's there in black and white, although it doesn't mention an amount.

I thought the plan was to make it an ATCO 3 unit ??? ;) :p :D

Assuming that this is not a wind-up.....

NATS has always faced a serious problem in recruiting/keeping people at LL and I for one won't get too upset at the company for offering those working the tower there a few extra pennies to help out. £15k is pocket money in the south-east, ATCO 2s at CC will still enjoy a far higher standard of living (not to mention keeping their radar tickets for the foreseeable future).

My worry is that this is yet another example of how a centralized pay structure simply doesn't work in NATS today (and I am a beneficiary of that structure, before somebody points that out) and its days must surely now be numbered. I can't help but think that those of us that work at regional airports will get well and truly stiffed when that happens - maybe Serco don't sound too bad after all!

Whilst we await the facts in this saga, the initial impression I have is that it is opening a Pandoras Box if true.

Quite a few Prospect Branch Policy documents will be getting a good read by many people over the coming days. Branch Policy tends to go against agreements which are devolved and devisive. This pay award may fly in the face of that unless part of a nationally agreed deal.

I won't be going back!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Still trying to decide whether to take the boat out on the lake or put my skiis on.
J:ok:

So thats £9000 after tax, (assuming the Heathrow bods are taxed at 40%), I don't know if N.I is payable on that amount, but assuming it isnt, it's the equivilant of an extra £750 after tax per month for 12 months only.
I assume that there is a clause which means the recipient must repay the full amount if they leave within a specified time scale (for reasons other than medical retirement or a posting).
Although it's not an amount to be sniffed at, putting things into perspective, I'd rather be where I am thank you.

Presumably the same is going to apply to those "over the road" where staff numbers are just as bad as Heathrow, and staff are still leaving ??

Or does NATS intend to sh*t all over LTCC staff AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is to say IF it's true ! ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)

POOR attempt to undermine Prospect
 

This strikes me as a very poor attempt to split the union. If there is a memo then lets see the text on this site.

That said I'd still like to be able to buy a large house NEAR work and have the standard of living that ATCOs at say EGCC or EGPF can enjoy than have to travel 40-50 miles to and from work just to be able to afford such luxury, and then battle the M25 and M4 etc etc like some of us have to.

The sooner NATS realise that we should all be able to enjoy the same standard of living wherever we are posted and pay accordingly the better. If that means massive increases for those posted to high property cost units then so be it.

I have a sneaking suspicion that even if there is a thread of truth to this and if the figure ended up at £25K per year or more we would still not see a mass of our colleagues from the north banging on the door of Heathrow Tower begging to be let in!!!

HOOK, LINE AND SINKER!!!!!

Do you deserve an extra £15K ? ..............Absolutely !!!

I've gotta say, I'm much happier to have my sub-30min commute and be using my ADC & APC tickets.

There is often a price to pay for being at the busiest unit for you boys/girls, namely :

1) Grey hair sooner
2) Shorter life span (see Doc CAAmed/Health/lhr/SJ/1999/022)
3) Contraction of "Married to the job syndrome"

Lastly, as I sit in my 4bed, double garaged detached house in the cotswolds. I have two dilema's :

a) Will the Hottub go in the new conversatory being built next month or shall I purchase a special Pine outhouse to put in my large garden ?

b) Which one of three cars should I take to work today? If the sun comes out then definately the roadster !!

Maybe life as an ATCO3 isnt that bad after all.
GOOD LUCK LHR YOU DESERVE EVERY PENNY ;) ;)

Justlooking: What makes you think that the outcome won't be massive decreases in pay for the (currently) higher standard of living units?
As a business, that would be preferable :eek:

Hey......

Did you hear the one about the EGLL Tower ATCO who had one too many alco-pops one night and posted a thread on a RUMOUR forum, and achieved what he was trying to do?

Attempt to split the Union.....hmmmmmmm. That's nearly as good!

(BTW, don't shoot the messenger here, 'cause I didn't start this)

Right,

1. Heathrow Atco's do not drink alco-pops (apart from Butters).

2. I ask any ATCO 3 or ATCO 2 based at EGCC and at Scottish to come on here explain why Heathrow, TC, Swanwick and maybe Gatwick (depending on whether BA move the entire operation to Terminal 4) should not get a substantial pay increase over the other units. And before Manch and Scottish start moaning, At Manch you keep and use your Radar and Tower tickets and in the rest of the company the latter is known as the SCATC holiday camp:cool: , it's just a matter of time before senior management find out.;)
Yep you could say if were unhappy then why not go up north and join the party, great standard of living for the money(Yeh I know I'm being greedy, what with my outer London weighting). Those that would can't because there's no-one coming down South to the busiest units to release us. So not only do we deserve a big pay rise but also a retainer bonus to keep and attract.

If the above means a splitting of the union then so be it; because it can't continue and please If I'm wrong (last time was 1988) come on here and tell us why!

Going back to point 1. Do Aftershocks count?

Does this mean that NATS will be able to recruit and train enough controllers to staff the place properlely and have the right number of controllers on duty at the busy times?. You need both GMC's open almost the whole time there and to be honest you could do with a separate start-up or push-back freq. as well like AMS of FRA use. Sure cuts down the stress for everybody.

Yellow Snow,

Last wrong in 1988? I'll have to refresh myself as to the meaning of the word 'wrong', as it's obviously changed since I last looked.

And I thought you preferred Archer's Aqua? I've heard it goes well with a copy of 'Nursing Times'..........

:cool:

Gonzo.

Yellow Snow,

Be assured, although I was p*ssed at the time, I'm sure Point Seven WAS seen with an Alco-pop in his hand. This was just before a challenge was laid down involving something very silly with a triple Jameson's.

Just as a side note, is it not true that both the States and Canada recognise traffic workloads at different Centres/TCUs and have extra "allowance" payments on top of base salary? I do happen to know that in Canada when you get a posting to one of the busier Units (Toronto Centre/TCU for instance), it is seen as "reaching the top" so to speak, and it is rare to be posted back to a quieter unit.

Ye Gods, it almost sounds like Job progression.

And convention dictates that more ratings = more pay. Maybe Heathrow's tower-only controllers should be paid the same as the chaps at Wycombe Air Park tower or Battersea heliport? ;)

Rodan

I think the Iraqis need a new information minister;)
Either way I'll bet it pays well.

Gonzo

When you look up the definition of wrong, you may find a listing of your waistcoats:p

Actually;

The US does pay by the plane as it were. We have worked out a formula ( posted here once before) that looks at both traffic levels and complexity levels for the facility. It isn't all encompassing, but we made a fair stab at it the first go around. We look at things such as runway layout, traffic count, any mountains near by, training aircraft, aircraft in climb and descent etc... There are a LOT of things in the standard.

We then put the standard together and put together everyone's count and base the base pay of the unit on that. We don't have add on's per se. The only add on is the cost of employment ( not to be confused with the cost of living ) for the area. We have about 15 different pay levels with the first three I think it is as training levels and then on up. The highest any facility in this country is right now is ATC-12, but we have a few that are bumping up to a 13. I beleive that we have a level 14 for much later down the road when we continue our traffic growth... If anyone wants to see our standard, I could probably dig it up in digital format and get in on here or send it out.

regards

Scott