I've previously made my posts too long, so I'll try to make this one short!
Air Traffic Control is based on Safety, Orderly and Expeditious flow. We accept no compromise on the former, The other two come in variable amounts according to qualification, experience and sometimes even guts of the controller.
A year ago we could sustain heavy work with minimum separation between aircraft. And provide lots of direct routes on top of that. It represents a larger effort from the controller, but it's worth it. I used to save more time and money on fuel than I earned.
Then came José Blanco, decided to change everything: more hours, less rest, more traffic, less vacation, compulsory immediate attendance, less pay; all with no previous advice. The circumstance became unbearable. 70% pay reduction in my case. This obviously brought a struggle to pay bills. I'm not disputing the need for it, but surely there had to be a different way.
I personally spent five months off, on a stress related medical leave. I'm still troubled balancing my life. I would prefer to be able to focus completely on my job.
Satisfied controllers are always going to be more efficient controllers, there's no way around it.
Or is there? What will the next step be? Pay per plane per hour? Will they create a struggle to cram as many aircraft as possible into the smallest space in order to increase efficiency? What about Safety? We've just gone crazy!
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But Simon, everything said, what is the pay (salary) you earn vs. the median salary in the country? include high profile jobs of medical doctors & university professors.
ReplyDeleteYou undergo stress but you earn much much more than any of the above jobs. Even more than the pilots themselves.
This is what my observation is, being neutral,non-biased & having nothing to do with any of these. I'm a 3rd person who was just surprised to see the salaries (300k+ per annum) the ATC personnel are making.
Now compare it to the ATC personnel in other countries, do they make so much money ? Do you think, you contribute more to the society than they do ? Do you think, ATC personnel in Spain are special than your counterparts in other countries in EU & the rest of the world ? If you are talking about expertise etc., will you be fine if your employer decided to bring in more experienced personnel than you are from say China or India and replace you ?
What do you think is a fair salary for ATC people ?
If you think yours is high, will you forfeit it & agree to a salary of say 100k per year ?
Hi Maya,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all thank you for your input.
I personally don't like simplistic visions that use salary as the only argument to decide whether workers are entitled or not to certain rights. Where would you place the threshold above which one loses his/her Constitutional rights?
I have to remind you that in the past year we have lost the right to collective negotiation, our salary has been slashed, and our right to retire before the standard age has also disappeared. This is one of the reasons I left a well paid job to become a controller! Many other negative changes have also been imposed-
You asked for comparisons with the average Spanish salary, although you also provide the answer. Our's is obviously greater, as it also is compared to that of doctors or Uni teachers. On the other hand, it's lower than professional footballers or bank managers, You must consider we work with a higher responsibility than any of those and we also do more uncomfortable hours.
In any case, wouldn't the world be a much better place if we directed our efforts against the meagre conditions of the least privileged instead of attacking those who are better off than us?
In comparison with our European colleagues we earn about the same, but we do 1700 hours against the British 1260 or the German 1123, for example. The data iare from Eurocontrol.
As far as the introduction of Chinese or Indian controllers, they would have to be bilingual in Spanish and English, so the chances aren't very high. But if they prove their worth and the Service Provider decides to include them in their workforce, so be it!
Finally, just to keep things straight, I am a supervisor in one of the top positions and my highest pay slip of this year has been for less than 8000€. Which seems high, but is less than what we had bargained for and about half what Pepiño, the minister, said we would earn.
I think that answers your last questions.
Thanks once again,
Simon