FDP Walla

Extremely well said.

It would be very nice to be able to be selective about which volunteers we accept when it comes to voluntary redundancies, unfortunately of course, we can't.

Any company with balls would use this situation as an option to get rid of underperforming dross i.e. the slackers who do not carry out their duties correctly.
We all know who they are, but of course it's not going to happen that way.
In fact I would go as far as to say that the reporting system for line managers is such that a lot of the people do not get picked up for their slackness because line managers do not want to be seen to be 'horrible' :ugh:

We should be working smarter when it comes to redundancies, but of course, we won't.

The problem with this is that they would not get rid of the shirkers, They would take some bean counters word for who the shirkers are too. RPI should be paid after the first round of redundancies though - that is for sure! However :ugh: will apply.

So is anyone pissed off at how they are trying to use the big guilt trip of airlines apparant hard times to make us take no payrise?

Its all part of the psychology to brainwash us :}

Look at PB's photo on NATS intranet. Its all carefully managed (no doubt at great expense). He is not smiling or sad, more of a pissed off look :oh: . Management are using the intranet to "manage the staff". Each shafting is preceeded by bad news and hard times, with the emphasis on "we have no dosh". The comments from staff are carefully monitored to gauge the mood and to gain ideas on where to make cuts. Yet only last year they were boasting how efficient the company is, reaching out with its "tentacles" to capture business overseas.
I dont think we will get anything more than a 1% pay rise this year, despite the fact it should be 5.8% (Aug RPI+1%)

I should think he's just as pissed off as the rest of us. One minute all is well the next thanks to some overpaid bankers income is down by 8% and it's all got a lot harder.

Well I hear the ATCO that got under Barrons skin before xmas on the intranet and got a rise out of him has now hounded him enough that he has a private meeting with him in a few weeks to bounce ideas and have a good horn locking session together.
Not sure if that is 100% true as heard it from a colleague on the same watch, but I beleive that Barrons latest email begging us to 'help' the airlines, solve 3rd world debt and rid the world of Aids all through us not taking a payrise will be top of his agenda.... especially if his lenghty post above is a 'warm up'.
Personally, even if it does bugger all and Barron is playing more games with ATCO's I stand behind the lad and admire his tenacity to at least take Barron up on his offer..... If nothing else, I hope he gets a good few pats on the back, may even up morale for about 2 minutes!!!! :ok:

I wouldnt say hounded, but i guess this is a rumour network.

How do we help out the airline group?
It is rumoured they are being paid a 19 MILLION POUND DIVIDEND this year!
NATS employees should think about redundancy and cost cutting :mad:

OK enough of the chit chat and lets get back to the beginning.

What exactly are Prospect doing.

What are they asking for

When can we expect some indication of progress

The silence is deafening and I'm now ready to quit a union that seems to enjoy stockpiling powder over selectively using it to good effect.

Enough is nearly enough.

We've had an update posted on our Union notice board for a few weeks now......Not in work so I can't remember the details... I think it said they asked for August RPI+1% as a baseline, but that separate sectional claims are also being submitted.

I have just heard, from a source, that the union guys at manch are going around saying that atco's at the top of the scale are going to be asked to take v.r. as its cheaper to pay more atco's at the bottom of the scale.

what horse crap is this that is going around?

Latest rumour....

If we want a 3% payrise, we will need to lose 400 jobs,2%= 300 job losses, 1% =200 losses

Now here is the cracker :ok:.........

Pay freeze for 2 years :eek: and no job losses :D

Now I wonder who exactly will vote for 3% and who will vote for a pay freeze :E

I want at least a 5.8% payrise (RPI +1%)

That's 680 job losses :{

I see the masters of getting what they want are at it again. Don't believe the pish that's planted out there to put fear into the workforce. I'll have my RPI +1% (August 2008 RPI) as well. Their profit? Couldn't care less.

Vote No

The company can afford RPI. All that Barrons e-mail states is that profits won't be as large as he'd like...

As for pay percentage for job losses, I'm all for cutting jobs within NATS, if it is done properly; i.e. wasters get chopped.

However there should not be a culture of 'chop more, get a higher percentage', there should be a proper study of who we need now and who we will need in the near future (taking into account the lead time it takes to train people etc)... then bin the rest.

Barron et al try to tell us that they are running NATS as a business. Until they cut out the fat, which includes the stupid, pointless ATCO management posts that keep springing up, then it seems to me that they are not doing a good job of running NATS as a business.

Barron got his pension deal, now he should cut other unnecessary jobs. That may sound harsh, but why should we carry people just to keep them employed?

We are either a business or we are not. Why should I not take a pay rise just to keep someone, who is doing little or nothing, in a job??

In the past week I have heard of people who have failed in their management post being given yet another chance with the introduction of yet another new management position. Another case of failed managers being shuffled around to keep friends in jobs.

We are either trying to save money or not. I am getting
f:mad::mad:king sick of being told we need to save money, then seeing failures keeping their high paid jobs when they could be taken back into operational employment with a pay cut:=

I could not agree more. I just hope and pray our union bods have got their act together and don't bend over again to bail out PB and co. It just gets worse and worse :\
NATS is becoming a sh**e company to work for. I don't want to hear "welcome to the real world" either. :mad:

Its about time our union proved they had some balls andpush for a decent payrise. More inportantly, lets give the company a deadline! April the 1st deal done RPI +1 or we walk?

Changing the subject slightly .....

A friend of mine flys for Ryanair, and tells me they might be struggling to survive this year and payrises are not even expected :\

Ryanair runs up heavy losses but expects passenger growth next year | Business | guardian.co.uk

Michael O'Leary, chief executive, described the loss of €101.5m (£91.9m) in the three months to December 08 as "disappointing", blaming it on escalating fuel costs, which rose more than 70%. Ryan­air said average fares fell 9% but both revenues and passenger numbers were up.

I sympathise with the staff, but confess I hate the whole unsustainable cheap flight thing, which has rendered travel akin to a cattlemarket instead of a luxurious way to travel.

I had to laugh at this website I Hate Ryanair

part of RYR problem is (I have been told), that they did not hedge fuel for ages... then they did, unfortunately for them they hedged just before the prices fell dramatically, but obviously they now are suffering for the late hedging...


I personally think they will be OK, after all, when money is tight for Joe/Josephine Public, I would think he/she is more likely to use a LoCo carrier than a flag carrier...