Social actions at air navigation service provider skeyes (Belgium) - possible air traffic disruptions

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Phoenixx
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Re: Social actions at air traffic control service skeyes (Belgium) - possible air traffic disruptions

Post by Phoenixx »

Acid-drop wrote: 02 May 2019, 23:15 Its time we stop with the borders from the middle age and create a central european unit... or is that so crazy ?
They have been trying that for a long time... The reasoning is as logical as it is simple.
The reality however is a whole different issue, and I don't think it's likely to change soon.



Acid-drop
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Re: Social actions at air traffic control service skeyes (Belgium) - possible air traffic disruptions

Post by Acid-drop »

An agreement.on what ?
If its really about staff shortage there is nothing to agree about... proof (if needed) that we are beeing manipulated by both sides.
My messages reflect my personal opinion which may be different than yours. I beleive a forum is made to create a debate so I encourage people to express themselves, the way they want, with the ideas they want. I expect the same understanding in return.

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Re: Social actions at air traffic control service skeyes (Belgium) - possible air traffic disruptions

Post by jan_olieslagers »

An agreement on how to handle the (indeed generally recognised) staff shortage, perhaps?
But I agree that the situation remains smelly - as I stated long before.

Phoenixx
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Re: Social actions at air traffic control service skeyes (Belgium) - possible air traffic disruptions

Post by Phoenixx »

Acid-drop wrote: 04 May 2019, 13:31 An agreement.on what ?
If its really about staff shortage there is nothing to agree about... proof (if needed) that we are beeing manipulated by both sides.
Well this started with a strike and continued with atcos saying 'screw your non stop growing demand for more flexibility and more working days to fix the staff shortage you are responsible for'. There is no end to this, and this is not a workable 'solution' anymore, so we will do less extra. (Still doing more than in our working agreement)
So they have been negotiating measures to deal with the staff shortage, both temporary and long term, roster changes and the whole rostering system, the continuous violations on our rights and the internal rules (in favor of the holy grail of operational continuity), the regulations regarding standbys, ...
To management, the only thing that matters is that their show goes on and that it changes to what they want, at all cost.
Employees are done with this and don't cooperate anymore.
Management cant get the -impossible- flexibility needed to resolve the operational staffshortage from goodwill, because they have done almost nothing to create any with the atcos, and they can't buy it anymore since there is almost no more intrest for extra fees in return for flexibility.
Really, what do you think they have been negotiating on for so long? Did you not read the last 10 pages?

The staff shortage still has to be dealt with to minimize the impact on airports, airlines and passengers, and both parties want to see this dealt with as good as possible.
Problem is that we want this done with respect for the employees, their private lives and their rights, and management wants this done with the highest possible numbers they can get.
There are a few crucial points where the parties have complete opposite views and there is no real middle ground to settle on.
(For example, a night is one day vs two? Cant be one and a half.// They either follow the law regarding parental leaves or they don't. There is no in between. // You let people volunteer for extra shifts or shift changes or you force them to do so. you could say we force them if they don't volunteer, but in reality that is just forcing and there is no legal ground to do so. // they either follow the rules regarding training and seniority or they don't. // ... )
Because of this it is impossible to please both parties and to find a decent moderate view in between and both parties refuse to accept the other ones 'final proposal', as it is nowhere near their own and it involves dropping several of their own absolute base demands, and this is something the CEO refuses to do.
Ofcourse stubbornness in one party and a refusal to change certain demands creates the same behaviour on the other side. (After all why would you give in to something if the other one is not willing to do the same?)
Last edited by Phoenixx on 04 May 2019, 14:45, edited 1 time in total.

Phoenixx
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Re: Social actions at air traffic control service skeyes (Belgium) - possible air traffic disruptions

Post by Phoenixx »

And do I even have to bother saying that the claim in the media that ACV-Transcom demands even less than a 32 hour week for even more money than the pay raise management supposedly offered is a blatant lie?

We have a 35 hour weeks standard, during the past years, atcos had to take 4-5 extra shifts per month and there was still a shortage.
Lately they were offering ridiculous fees for atcos that volunteered to take extra open shifts and everybody refused because money is no longer the priority, a balance in work-private life is.
And now they're gonna solve it with a 32 hour week and we supposedly want more money for that?
Whoever believes this story as it is being presented is truely naive.
That means 4 days of working and 3 days off, for way more money than we get now for the intended 5 days of working- 3 days off. That would be genius. That is not the case.

Management probably found an alternative way to force their 'vision' onto us and therefore needed a way out of these negotiations so they can do what they want at the PC next week, that's all. Same old tactic, make a little -logical- concession to pretend that we're the good guys, create a lie and then use 'the impossible spoiled atcos' as a lightning rod and make sure nobody supports them when we finally do what we want, no matter how illegal and wrong it is
We'll see on Friday if that is the case.

mvg
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Re: Social actions at air traffic control service skeyes (Belgium) - possible air traffic disruptions

Post by mvg »

@ Phoenixx

"Staff is screwed up by the management" "Employees do not want to cooperate anymore" "No respect" "No end"
We have discussed all this and there will have to be an end. That means find an agreement.

You give interesting examples in which there is no in between:
- one night counts for one day or for two
- parental leave granted according to the law or not granted
- you let people volunteer to work extra shifts or force them
- follow (or not) the rules regarding training, which means respecting seniority

These are probably four very hot topics. If there is no in between, one side will have to give away something: what are Atcos ready to give away and what do they want to keep?

As a neutral spectator, the four hot topics hereabove are straight forward:

- one night counts for one day, as it does in any other job. In your case, the request from management is to make it count for one day for planning purposes only. You get your sleep day and the hours are paid. But the sleep day counts as a day off in the roster for the counting of the days worked in a row. It wasn't like that before, although nothing was ever put on paper. Atco's received it as a present but now that there is an important staff shortage, it's not possible anymore. That does not even change the number of hours worked weekly or monhtly. Anything above 35 hours per week is claimable back (in days off or paid).
Of course you are working much more than that now but lots of trainees are coming. Give them time to check out. Many Atcos are about to retire: many have accepted to stay longer. There might be more who elect to stay than you imagine.

- parental leave granted according to the law: of course an employer has to respect the law. But what should a management do if it is impossible to grant parental leave without putting the business continuity into trouble? What would you do in their place? Let everyone who wishes to work 4/5 days or half time or be at home during 3 or 4 months (parental leave) do so? Even if that means: 1) not enough people to be rostered 2) make those who don't take parental leave work more (direct and unavoidable consequence)
Can't you find a compromise like: those who wait 3 years (till there is more personal) to take their parental leave will get 25% more? Honestly, it's terrible not to get the parental leave as it is requested but it's a suicide to approve it when you are so short of staff...

- forcing people to work: of course this is unacceptable. What is meant by forcing? There are rules that define how a roster can be changed without the approval of an Atco. With how much notice it has to happen. What are those rules? And what is management doing?

- the seniority rule: the big thing! When an airline hires a captain from another company to work straigth away in the left seat, where is the seniority rule and what do other pilots say?

It's true that the current situation is partly due to bad management. It looks like they have some support from "above". Many companies have had to rationalise over the last 20 years: look at airlines. The same is unavoidable for ATC and it has happened in many countries already. It's impossible that Atcos keep their package (it has been described enough) that dates back from maybe 30 years ago.

sean1982
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Re: Social actions at air traffic control service skeyes (Belgium) - possible air traffic disruptions

Post by sean1982 »

Phoenixx wrote: 04 May 2019, 14:32 'the impossible spoiled atcos'
When a fish says he’s not a fish, does it make him less of a fish?

When you’re in a situation for long enough its quite common to lose touch with reality. Im sure management doesnt need to play the mentioned card because when you honestly present your working conditions to the general public, many of whom also dont have a Good work-life balance and work for a lot less money, They will feel that you’re spoiled anyway. To say it in brexit terms, you can have the cake and eat it at the Same time

Phoenixx
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Re: Social actions at air traffic control service skeyes (Belgium) - possible air traffic disruptions

Post by Phoenixx »

mvg wrote: 04 May 2019, 18:33 @ Phoenixx

"Staff is screwed up by the management" "Employees do not want to cooperate anymore" "No respect" "No end"
We have discussed all this and there will have to be an end. That means find an agreement.

You give interesting examples in which there is no in between:
- one night counts for one day or for two
- parental leave granted according to the law or not granted
- you let people volunteer to work extra shifts or force them
- follow (or not) the rules regarding training, which means respecting seniority

These are probably four very hot topics. If there is no in between, one side will have to give away something: what are Atcos ready to give away and what do they want to keep?

As a neutral spectator, the four hot topics hereabove are straight forward:

- one night counts for one day, as it does in any other job. In your case, the request from management is to make it count for one day for planning purposes only. You get your sleep day and the hours are paid. But the sleep day counts as a day off in the roster for the counting of the days worked in a row. It wasn't like that before, although nothing was ever put on paper. Atco's received it as a present but now that there is an important staff shortage, it's not possible anymore. That does not even change the number of hours worked weekly or monhtly. Anything above 35 hours per week is claimable back (in days off or paid).
Of course you are working much more than that now but lots of trainees are coming. Give them time to check out. Many Atcos are about to retire: many have accepted to stay longer. There might be more who elect to stay than you imagine.

- parental leave granted according to the law: of course an employer has to respect the law. But what should a management do if it is impossible to grant parental leave without putting the business continuity into trouble? What would you do in their place? Let everyone who wishes to work 4/5 days or half time or be at home during 3 or 4 months (parental leave) do so? Even if that means: 1) not enough people to be rostered 2) make those who don't take parental leave work more (direct and unavoidable consequence)
Can't you find a compromise like: those who wait 3 years (till there is more personal) to take their parental leave will get 25% more? Honestly, it's terrible not to get the parental leave as it is requested but it's a suicide to approve it when you are so short of staff...

- forcing people to work: of course this is unacceptable. What is meant by forcing? There are rules that define how a roster can be changed without the approval of an Atco. With how much notice it has to happen. What are those rules? And what is management doing?

- the seniority rule: the big thing! When an airline hires a captain from another company to work straigth away in the left seat, where is the seniority rule and what do other pilots say?

It's true that the current situation is partly due to bad management. It looks like they have some support from "above". Many companies have had to rationalise over the last 20 years: look at airlines. The same is unavoidable for ATC and it has happened in many countries already. It's impossible that Atcos keep their package (it has been described enough) that dates back from maybe 30 years ago.
The end you are referring to means finding an agreement together.
What's about to happen is not exactly together and does not include an end to the unreasonable demands atcos have been subject to for years, on the contrary, it might actually get worse.

And well, we're not willing to give up all four, thats for sure.
That's what "finding the middle ground" is about, last time I checked.

Management wants it a nightshift count for one day, 'only' in planning for now (let's see about this offer before we talk about hours) for the purpose of adding more shifts to an atcos roster.
If you work 35 hours per week as agreed, it is not even necessary to add more shifts to a roster.
Do you seriously believe they will honor this '32 hour week' anywhere in their planning department?
It will be used to count the increasing number of extra hours we do, that is all.

Regarding the parental leave. We could do what you say yes.
However, management has already postponed a request far above the legal limit and then simply answered 'your kid is above 12 now, request unvalid'.
You're working with a law here, and everything not covered by this law is subject to discussion.
DIscussion is not their strongest suit.
Also, good luck putting all situations one might ask parental leave for on hold for 3 years.
What about the atcos who want to take their leave now, when they are entitled to do so?
"No sorry, nobody wanted to wait three years so you are the chinese volunteer to wait now."
They can not give more leave in 3 years as I explained before, this shortage will continue for longer already.
This is simply postponing again and saying 'later, we will fix it later, for now please do more'. We have heard that story far too much and for far too long already to still believe it.
You seem to forget this is a right, covered in a European law, and that management has been putting themselves above it for years, and now they want to grant themselves an exception as they see fit, for as long as they deem it necessary, with no possibility to say no.
How correct do you think they are dealing with other rules and laws?

Bringing me to point 3!
Basically they are changing the roster after it is published without the mututal agreement as required. As soon as it is published, which is 1 month in advance for the whole month, they can not change it by themselves anymore.
As I said, they are commandeering atcos as they see fit now, without any legal ground to do so.
Couriers are delivering registered letters to atcos on a one day notice, informing them their shift has changed, no discussion.
Atcos receive emails from ops management informing them their SAME DAY shift has changed if there is no more time to send a courier, once again, no discussion possible.
Supervisors and chiefs are forced to come in earlier or to stay later to minimize the effect of a shortage or a closure, no discussion.
Standbys are officially informed of their activation long before theirlegal activation window to ensure they fall under the set of rules of an activated standby air traffic controller.
Management does not care about any rules restricting them in their goal.

The seniority rule: not how it works !
There are extremely clear and specific rules about this, and management has once again decided not to follow them. To follow your example: If your airline hires a guy, not even a fully licensed pilot yet, they pay for his type rating as they paid for yours, and with 0 actual experience and the absolute minimum of hours needed to become captain put him in the left seat, when your (countries rules, not even company rules) rules clearly state you are supposed to get added to the FO list first, and then when a spot opens up on the captain list, the FO list is asked who is intrested to become captain, in order of seniority and position on this list (and this is how it is stated in the rules, has happened since you joined the company and has been happening since long before too), and their explanation is "but we kind of need a captain now, so we decided to put him on that list straight away, saves us the step of training you and saves us some time", how happy are you going to be?
Do you dare tell me you won't protest, refer to the rules, to how it is supposed to happen and that there is a giant list of FOs waiting to take the captain training and that because of their own lack of planning your are suddenly passed by in this?
Well, if you answer anything but 'yes okay' I probably won't believe you anyway, just making my point.

I have mentioned this before and I will say it again. We are not against change or giving up a few benefits.
We are against the mentality of the current CEO of not taking no for an answer and enforcing his (full) vision one way or the other. When this man gets what he wants, we will lose nearly all benefits and rights except money. (A right that is subject to managements view of continuity is not a right) And money is being used against us every single time to take away something more already, so hooray for that.
sean1982 wrote: 04 May 2019, 18:44 When a fish says he’s not a fish, does it make him less of a fish?

When you’re in a situation for long enough its quite common to lose touch with reality. Im sure management doesnt need to play the mentioned card because when you honestly present your working conditions to the general public, many of whom also dont have a Good work-life balance and work for a lot less money, They will feel that you’re spoiled anyway. To say it in brexit terms, you can have the cake and eat it at the Same time
Ofcourse management doesn't need to do this, our salary alone is good enough to make half of Belgium regard us as spoiled and to justify any and all situations for them, but they do it anyway to make the doubters choose a side and to make critical thinkers doubt. Look at the posts when I started responding here if you think my statement is wrong. Misinformation is a very powerful tool.

But thank you for the 2 clever quotes( still wondering if they refer to management or to me, they are just too smart), the quick and unmotivated judgement, answering completely besides the point of the post you quoted 1 sentence out of and ignoring nearly everything I have been extensively explaining for the last 10 pages. Gonna go have some cake, fish love cake.

sean1982
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Re: Social actions at air traffic control service skeyes (Belgium) - possible air traffic disruptions

Post by sean1982 »

Phoenixx wrote: 04 May 2019, 20:32
sean1982 wrote: 04 May 2019, 18:44 When a fish says he’s not a fish, does it make him less of a fish?

When you’re in a situation for long enough its quite common to lose touch with reality. Im sure management doesnt need to play the mentioned card because when you honestly present your working conditions to the general public, many of whom also dont have a Good work-life balance and work for a lot less money, They will feel that you’re spoiled anyway. To say it in brexit terms, you can have the cake and eat it at the Same time
Ofcourse management doesn't need to do this, our salary alone is good enough to make half of Belgium regard us as spoiled and to justify any and all situations for them, but they do it anyway to make the doubters choose a side and to make critical thinkers doubt. Look at the posts when I started responding here if you think my statement is wrong. Misinformation is a very powerful tool.

But thank you for the 2 clever quotes( still wondering if they refer to management or to me, they are just too smart), the quick and unmotivated judgement, answering completely besides the point of the post you quoted 1 sentence out of and ignoring nearly everything I have been extensively explaining for the last 10 pages. Gonna go have some cake, fish love cake.
I have read everything and agree with some of it but feel like the ATCO's have lost touch with reality a bit. Compare what you have with what Joe Public has and can you then say hand on heart your working conditions are hard? You could have gone without the sarcastic answer.

Phoenixx
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Re: Social actions at air traffic control service skeyes (Belgium) - possible air traffic disruptions

Post by Phoenixx »

sean1982 wrote: 04 May 2019, 21:38
Phoenixx wrote: 04 May 2019, 20:32
sean1982 wrote: 04 May 2019, 18:44 When a fish says he’s not a fish, does it make him less of a fish?

When you’re in a situation for long enough its quite common to lose touch with reality. Im sure management doesnt need to play the mentioned card because when you honestly present your working conditions to the general public, many of whom also dont have a Good work-life balance and work for a lot less money, They will feel that you’re spoiled anyway. To say it in brexit terms, you can have the cake and eat it at the Same time
Ofcourse management doesn't need to do this, our salary alone is good enough to make half of Belgium regard us as spoiled and to justify any and all situations for them, but they do it anyway to make the doubters choose a side and to make critical thinkers doubt. Look at the posts when I started responding here if you think my statement is wrong. Misinformation is a very powerful tool.

But thank you for the 2 clever quotes( still wondering if they refer to management or to me, they are just too smart), the quick and unmotivated judgement, answering completely besides the point of the post you quoted 1 sentence out of and ignoring nearly everything I have been extensively explaining for the last 10 pages. Gonna go have some cake, fish love cake.
I have read everything and agree with some of it but feel like the ATCO's have lost touch with reality a bit. Compare what you have with what Joe Public has and can you then say hand on heart your working conditions are hard? You could have gone without the sarcastic answer.
And you could have gone without the the implied insult or the wise quotes but here we are.
If i compare what we have now, sure we have a good thing going.
We work way too much and have to accept way too many violations, but yes.
But compare that to where the CEO wants to go, and it's a whole other story.

sean1982
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Re: Social actions at air traffic control service skeyes (Belgium) - possible air traffic disruptions

Post by sean1982 »

Phoenixx wrote: 04 May 2019, 23:25
And you could have gone without the the implied insult or the wise quotes but here we are.
If i compare what we have now, sure we have a good thing going.
We work way too much and have to accept way too many violations, but yes.
But compare that to where the CEO wants to go, and it's a whole other story.
Where did you see an insult? implied or otherwise?
He probably wants to go to an environment where there are less violations because you have to be more flexible, like 100.000 companies have done before him in the last couple of years. That's the way forward if you want a company to stay alive.

Phoenixx
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Re: Social actions at air traffic control service skeyes (Belgium) - possible air traffic disruptions

Post by Phoenixx »

sean1982 wrote: 04 May 2019, 23:41
Phoenixx wrote: 04 May 2019, 23:25
And you could have gone without the the implied insult or the wise quotes but here we are.
If i compare what we have now, sure we have a good thing going.
We work way too much and have to accept way too many violations, but yes.
But compare that to where the CEO wants to go, and it's a whole other story.
Where did you see an insult? implied or otherwise?
He probably wants to go to an environment where there are less violations because you have to be more flexible, like 100.000 companies have done before him in the last couple of years. That's the way forward if you want a company to stay alive.
You use smart phrase about fish without realizing the implied message?
He wants to go to an environment with less violations by changing rules and laws to excempt himself from them and to create more exceptions he can use, not by improving working conditions so he can actually follow them. This is not a rough patch before it gets better, this is the stage where he is still technically breaking all rules because he didnt manage to change them yet.
There is a major difference, and this is not the way forward at all, this is next level egoism and advanced lawlessness.

Bracebrace
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Re: Social actions at air traffic control service skeyes (Belgium) - possible air traffic disruptions

Post by Bracebrace »

Phoenixx wrote: 05 May 2019, 08:01 You use smart phrase about fish without realizing the implied message?
He wants to go to an environment with less violations by changing rules and laws to excempt himself from them and to create more exceptions he can use, not by improving working conditions so he can actually follow them. This is not a rough patch before it gets better, this is the stage where he is still technically breaking all rules because he didnt manage to change them yet.
There is a major difference, and this is not the way forward at all, this is next level egoism and advanced lawlessness.
I didn't read everything, but this remark is a different discussion.

Well, unfortunately this is the way aviation has evolved the last 30 years. Pilots, cabin crew, maintenance, desk people... we have all seen our working conditions deteriorate and it is not stopping. Unfortunately pilots and cabin crew are the ones sitting in the tube. Who is the most responsible for safety? Cabin crew in the end, to get the morning-beer drinking pax out. What are theIR working conditions? Shitty as hell.

The days of state funded national carriers is almost over. We are privatised. There is no reason why ATC should not be privatised as well. You can blame your boss as much as you want, you are in the wrong business. If he doesn't do it, the next one will. Not because he wants, because he has to, because it is his job. He might be able to do it in a more "fashioned" way, but he will do it.

Welcome to aviation. Either you stay and you accept, or you leave. Like many pilots, cabin crew, maintenance people have done. We all work 30' extra before and 30' extra after the flight compared to our rosters, we all have to give the last minute flexibility to the company (I just heard we went down 20% on crew per aircraft last year...), and we all get blamed in the end because we missed a single minute somewhere... :-)

But I still love my job to death, and in some rather strange way, I love my company and want to make it work for the company.

I understand your "fight", and I respect it, I really do. Try as hard as you can. BUT, stop making my life shitty in the process. Because you are... and MY boss is requiring more flexibility from me as well, because of what YOU do. And I'm getting tired of it, my wife is getting tired of it, my kids are getting tired of it, and my boss does a fantastic job understanding this but still requires flexibility to handle what you create.

A good lesson for all those who want to join us.
Last edited by Bracebrace on 05 May 2019, 12:47, edited 3 times in total.

sean1982
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Re: Social actions at air traffic control service skeyes (Belgium) - possible air traffic disruptions

Post by sean1982 »

Bracebrace wrote: 05 May 2019, 11:04
Phoenixx wrote: 05 May 2019, 08:01 You use smart phrase about fish without realizing the implied message?
He wants to go to an environment with less violations by changing rules and laws to excempt himself from them and to create more exceptions he can use, not by improving working conditions so he can actually follow them. This is not a rough patch before it gets better, this is the stage where he is still technically breaking all rules because he didnt manage to change them yet.
There is a major difference, and this is not the way forward at all, this is next level egoism and advanced lawlessness.
I didn't read everything, but this remark is a different discussion.

Well, unfortunately this is the way aviation has evolved the last 30 years. Pilots, cabin crew, maintenance, desk people... we have all seen our working conditions deteriorate and it is not stopping. Unfortunately pilots and cabin crew are the ones sitting in the tube. Who is the most responsible for safety? Cabin crew in the end, to get the morning-beer drinking pax out. What are there working conditions? Shitty as hell.

The days of state funded national carriers is almost over. We are privatised. There is no reason why ATC should not be privatised as well.

You can blame your boss as much as you want, you are in the wrong business. If he doesn't do it, the next one will. Not because he wants, because he has to, because it is his job.

Welcome to aviation. Either you stay and you accept, or you leave. Like many pilots, cabin crew, maintenance people have done. We all work 30' extra before and 30' extra after the flight compared to our rosters, we all have to give the last minute flexibility to the company, and we all get blamed in the end because we missed a single minute somewhere... :-)

But I still love my job to death, and in some rather strange way, I love my company and want to make it work for the company.

A good lesson for all those who want to join us.
Hear hear

Bracebrace
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Re: Social actions at air traffic control service skeyes (Belgium) - possible air traffic disruptions

Post by Bracebrace »

Oops, I just added some stuff... oh well :-)

PS: give me high speed below 10 (instead of 250 from the moment I contact you) and you are forgiven... :-)

Atco EBBR
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Re: Social actions at air traffic control service skeyes (Belgium) - possible air traffic disruptions

Post by Atco EBBR »

:D can you give me 310 or greater for the sequence?

Bracebrace
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Re: Social actions at air traffic control service skeyes (Belgium) - possible air traffic disruptions

Post by Bracebrace »

:mrgreen: If I can self-position as well.... you get a free break... not? :mrgreen:

Phoenixx
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Re: Social actions at air traffic control service skeyes (Belgium) - possible air traffic disruptions

Post by Phoenixx »

Bracebrace wrote: 05 May 2019, 11:04 I didn't read everything, but this remark is a different discussion.

Well, unfortunately this is the way aviation has evolved the last 30 years. Pilots, cabin crew, maintenance, desk people... we have all seen our working conditions deteriorate and it is not stopping. Unfortunately pilots and cabin crew are the ones sitting in the tube. Who is the most responsible for safety? Cabin crew in the end, to get the morning-beer drinking pax out. What are theIR working conditions? Shitty as hell.

The days of state funded national carriers is almost over. We are privatised. There is no reason why ATC should not be privatised as well. You can blame your boss as much as you want, you are in the wrong business. If he doesn't do it, the next one will. Not because he wants, because he has to, because it is his job. He might be able to do it in a more "fashioned" way, but he will do it.

Welcome to aviation. Either you stay and you accept, or you leave. Like many pilots, cabin crew, maintenance people have done. We all work 30' extra before and 30' extra after the flight compared to our rosters, we all have to give the last minute flexibility to the company (I just heard we went down 20% on crew per aircraft last year...), and we all get blamed in the end because we missed a single minute somewhere... :-)

But I still love my job to death, and in some rather strange way, I love my company and want to make it work for the company.

I understand your "fight", and I respect it, I really do. Try as hard as you can. BUT, stop making my life shitty in the process. Because you are... and MY boss is requiring more flexibility from me as well, because of what YOU do. And I'm getting tired of it, my wife is getting tired of it, my kids are getting tired of it, and my boss does a fantastic job understanding this but still requires flexibility to handle what you create.

A good lesson for all those who want to join us.
Sounds like you're reverting to immature logic there, 'we can't have it so you can't either'. So you're blaming us for not rolling over and playing dead when the boss says we should because the others do it?
To answer in that same logic, if everyone jumps off a bridge, would you do it too?

My boss doesn't have to break rules and laws, he chooses to, Thereby losing the trust and respect from his employees he very much needs to fix or get over this situation.
My boss didn't have to let staffing get to this point, but he did it anyway to outperform the cost cuts Europe set forward. He forgot to think about the future, as long as his numbers were good, all was good.
My boss wouldn't have to spend millions extra now (which is what he is doing) to keep everything sort of going if he had done his actual job.
My boss is kicking a sick dog in the hope it gets healthy again, guess what, that doesn't work.
To clarify: the dog being the company, not us.

We ARE sacrificing our off time and our rights, we ARE working 25 percent shortstaffed and have been for a while and only now (that there are monster fines at risk), they decided to reduce the staffing demand, and we ARE being blamed for it all (just look at your post, you are blaming me and my colleagues for what we 'do'? not even sure what exactly you're referring to here.)

I love my job too, I love my colleagues and our spirit and I love our pilots (most of them at least).
I don't have a problem with the company.
I have a problem with the incompetence of the management and the attitude and operating methods of the CEO.

As long as you (and everybody else) keep seeing this as a problem WE are creating, my CEO will continue down the same path. Provoking, pushing everything and everyone over the limits, blaming us and lying about everything, not giving up a single inch, ...

My wife and kid are sick and tired of it too, believe me.
How many years can I ask for patience and flexibility before it has been too much?
This worries me deeply, especially because we as atcos hàve reached this point in the CEO's continuous requests for patience, understanding and flexibility.
I hope my family likes me a bit more than I like our CEO...
In their '32 hour week' (a hilarious statement), we are effectively looking at 48 hours of paid time on 6 days (+3 hours total at work unpaid), putting me at work 51 hours per week, spread over 6 days, for the next 5 years at least. They don't even bother calling it flexibility anymore, they will just enforce it and call it an exceptional yet necessary situation.
Do you think the '25.000 euro extra per controller' (a ridiculous exaggeration for that matter, but sure what did we expect) will keep my family life together here when I have to explain them next week that I'll be home hopefully one full day per week for another 5 years? (if I have a nightshift in that week ofcourse, otherwise fingers crossed)
Please direct your anger and frustrations at the ones responsible (or at least ALL the ones responsible, not saying we are free of sin) instead of just the easy target.

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