No suprise there :ugh::ugh::ugh:

thanks for the link above, just read it and it is very hard to believe that there is no money for a staff pay rise. almost comical to some extent.

We get told, "there is no money, there is no money...." and then this. i know that we have finally been told that we are no longer a non profit organisation but surely between last year and march 2012, how much has been paid in interim dividends? and the company is allowed to charge the airlines a little extra for the bonus pot for the managers yet the employees are told there is no money......

how else are the employees supposed to take this? i would like to see the companies accounts including exactly were all the money has been spent. i think it would be an interesting read.

just curious really, but does anyone know what the ratio of ops room staff compared to managers is? how many projects is the company currently undertaking at the current time?

The unions had the figures in the briefings.

In a nutshell, every grade was down approx 15-20% since Oct 07 and PCG grades were up!

MosquitoAce -

You can tell that to the Army...

You can tell it to the Navy...

And you can certainly tell it to the Marines...;)

I'm still torn. I've had both the management and union briefings and still can't quite make my mind up.

On one hand the conditions set out by the union are sound, combined with the promises that as ATCOs we will not be taking on the met or residual tasks without several safety cases, and a list of such tasks being agreed between ATCOs and management. In effect the union "sold" me the deal.....

....on the other hand, the management "presentation" was awful, crowing about how the company has no money and how most of the NSL contracts are so tight that they couldn't afford more than the 5.2% offered. Then, just as the ballot papers drop through the door, the £42.5mil divident payment news is released. Wow, what a way to make your workforce feel valued.

Suspect it'll be a "no" vote from me out of principle, might be shooting myself in the foot as the extra money would certianly come in handy, plus if the met goes totally auto in the next few years it may be payment for no extra work - however I'm not sure how much I trust the promises made by the union regarding the residual tasks. I'm still quite new to the ATCO world and the stories people have told about the pension saga are making me think carefully about anything the union says.

Thats what it came down to for me aswell.

Sadly my trust in union and management "safety case" promises is nil.

I've not done met for a few years, but over my 2 main careers I have done 5 Met courses, including forecasters course.

Met will not become fully automatic in a safety critical environment for a long time, if ever. At the very least it will need qualified observers to check output with a Mark 1 eyeball...

You should base your vote, either way, on the assumption you will have to do some Met... you alone will know whether the safety case satisfies you

In effect doesn't this mean everything else that needs doing - you're on your own.

Mantovani has got it in One :ok:

Anyone reckon that management have released the dividend info in order to prompt a NO vote, as NSL can't / don't want to afford the payrises?

Ooooo, conspiracy theorist... Interesting thought though.

I do reckon that if a no vote is the result the only offers on the table will be split by banding, if not NERL/NSL, leaving us with the option of taking that or finding ourselves in dispute.

Wouldn't be surprised if they were double bluffing. No trust nor credibility whatsoever.

Prospect ATSS ballot paper received today...."no" vote back in the post.

So what does the "discrete" mark mean on the pre-paid envelope from Prospect?
Florescent yellow on the corner of the envelope……….

The marks are for NSL and NERL I believe, to show which ones to count first.

Its no that discrete if you have seen it ,NSL has blue

Is NPC pink then?

I can not believe the vote hinges on identifying then opening and counting all the envelopes with a blue dot first.

Surely they are using a more certain method of ensuring all the NSL votes are counted first.

Who ensured all the NSL envelopes had a blue dot?

My NSL has a yellow dot..