I Pit the Spanish Air Traffic Controllers

The BBQ Pit
1

OK… Let’s see… I understand, guys and gals, that you have a stressing and very important job to do.

I understand that, therefore, you have reasonably short working hours (the last thing you want to have is a tired, worn-out controller in the tower) and fantastic salaries (roughly $470,000 / year, in a country which right now is undergoing the mother of all recessions).

So, you are all employed by AENA (half-private/half-governmental company), and the Spanish government is planning to get rid of its stake in it, privatizing it completely. I can also more or less understand that you might be fretting about perhaps losing your privileges and working conditions if you are thrust into the cold, uncaring world of private enterprise.

But I would say that those are concerns best served by discussing them with your managers and (ultimately) with whatever representatives from the government you might have over there, rather than engaging in a fucking wildcat strike that has stranded more than 300.000 people in airports all over Europe (I am one of those affected, I must say in the interest of disclosure) and has screwed up with air traffic control in half of Western Europe, you DICKHEADS!

(In the end, the Spanish government has done something that had not been done since the end of the Franco days in 1975: They declared a state of emergency, which means that air traffic controllers and other people considered essential for the functioning of the nation are put directly under military authority, and if they were to refuse to go back to work, they would be considered as having directly disobeyed justified military orders, which would send them to military jail).

Allow me to say, dickhead controllers, that the main victims of all this brouhaha are going to be YOU. You have lost whatever little sympathy the average Spaniard might have had for you. They are not going to lift a finger in protest if the Spanish government “pulls a Reagan” and fires off the lot of you (although I think it won’t do it, anyway; I understand that it might be too complicated, legally speaking, to fire them all).

Gragh. Grumble, grumble, fucking lost the whole fucking day in the fucking airport. In Amsterdam. I don’t even want to begin imagining how it might be in Spain >.<

P.S.: Oh, and to add delicious insult to injury, the baggage services at Schiphol managed to do something that had NEVER happened to me before: They performed the feat of actually managing to lose my luggage with me having never been in the air at all :rolleyes: )

2

Goddam bastards cost me a concert.

I was going to see Tiga play in Dublin, but he got stuck in a Spanish airport.

I got the tickets in a competition, but I was really looking forward to seeing him.

3

Spanish Air Traffic Controllers make $470K/year?

That’s about four times what American ATC’s make.

4

The base salary is 200,000 euros, at the current exchange rate $267,000. They appear to get both very good overtime pay and a lot of overtime. The OP is justifiably and understandably using the top earners as an example. (Still, the base salary is not bad, I must admit.)

It’d be cheaper to hire a lot more air controllers and eliminate the overtime.

5

American air traffic controller here. Admittedly, not at one of the busier (therefore higher-paid) facilities, but still … that’s considerably more than four times what we make. That’s about six times what I make. And a BASE salary of $267,000??? Woo-eee … we have controllers starting out who work part-time jobs so they can pay their college loans.

Plus, I understand Spanish controllers have a 28 hour work week … tell me again why conservatives are claiming “European socialism” is taking over America.

6

Actually, it’s my understanding that two of their complaints are that they are constantly being made to work overtime without pay, and that their pay was cut “from €350,000 ($463,610) a year to around €200,000 ($264,920)” in February. I don’t find it unreasonable for them to be angry over having to take less pay for more work.

7

Weeeeell, given that the average person in Spain can expect a salary of some
€ 25,000 / year if they are lucky (with more working hours), still it doesn’t inspire much sympathy when you have somebody who still earns 8 times what you do complaining about their reduction in salary.

And, again, there are ways and channels to express this anger and this frustration. A wildcat strike is most definitely not it.

8

Well, what is? What other way of “expressing their anger” is likely to have any actual effect? After all that’s why strikes exist; because employers often ignore anything less drastic.

9

OK, so how justifiable is it to drag everyone else into your disputes, to decide that your grievances outweigh the needs of thousands of people who have no say in your future and cannot influence your outcome?

Also: If they are being denied overtime pay, they can reduce or drop the overtime they work. This is a classic example of where ‘work to rule’ or a ‘white mutiny’ would be an effective way to air grievances without stranding thousands of people who, as I said, have no say in what happens.

10

There are mechanisms in place to organize a strike. You announce it in advance; you agree for minimal services. The right to strike is recognized in the Spanish constitution, as long as the rules of play are respected (Taken from Article 28 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978: “<among other rights>, workers have the right to strike as long as a minimum level of essential services for the community is maintained”).

Do you have irreconcilable differences with management and decide to strike? Fair enough! Do as everybody else does, follow the rules, give advance warning, agree on minimal services (if you think that the level of minimal services being proposed by management is too high you can counter-propose a different level and can actually carry it out, let the courts sort it out later – but at least provide something), and go ahead.

But what these guys did was NOT this. Without any warning, they just went and walked out (or stayed home), stopping ALL services at the same time, instantly. This kind of wildcat strike is most definitely NOT protected by our constitution; leaving everything without minimal services is NOT allowed.

It appears that this was a “spur of the moment” decision by the union representatives that was supported through assembly meetings, with the walk-out starting right then on all the airports of the country. It is a very bad idea to follow “spur of the moment” decisions, especially if you make them while prey to emotion.

Right now, the most hated collective in Spain are air traffic controllers. Trawling the comments to newspaper articles in the 'net and the blogosphere, the least they are being called is “selfish jerks”. They managed to shoot themselves nicely in the foot with this one.

There are already some conspiracy theories that say that the government went through with the latest measures right now because they were expecting something like this to happen, with the controllers taking this kind of action so that the controllers would become hated and despised, thus making it easier to either bend their wills or get rid of them. Speaking as a Spaniard, I (more or less) know my government, and I can say that they do not have the ability needed to successfully pull off this kind of “Xanatos Gambit”.

EDIT: Also, what Derleth said: Air traffic controllers are in an EXCELLENT position to carry out a “work to rule” action, which will be effective in airing their grievances, and will not produce the levels of chaos and disruption that this wildcat strike unleashed.

11

Do you seriously imagine that there have not been prior consultations, discussions and meetings? Get real, that is about as fucking clueless about industrial relations as its possible to get.

This action is almost certainly a final last resort, not a first one - this group will have been taking legal advice about their options and will have come to this method of action to avoid being prosecuted, but don’t ever imagine that this is the first way that these concerns have been raised.

The problem with the outsiders complaining about industrial disputes is that they have absolutely no idea of the consultation mechanisms that have not worked, and every industrial dispute always has a history, usually neither the managers not the workers are blameless, but its the managers who have the power to resolve such disputes, the only thing a worker can do is withdraw labour.

Who do you think imposes the various rules that limit the effectiveness of strike action?, Why the fucking hell should workers follow them if it reduces their industrial muscle? Don’t give me that shit about rules, regulations and contracts, because the only thing that workers get is what they can extract, using things like scarcity of talent and impact of the lack of their services.

Now the customers who are adversely affected have every right to complain, and its the management who they should direct these toward, its the management that, one way or another, are responsible for absolutely everything that the company does - even down to industrial action by their workforce.

It’s the management who will decide what actions to take, whether its to sack workers or whatever and its the management alone that has the power to resolve any industrial dispute, some ways may well be unsavoury, some ways may be appeasement, the workers might well suffer from their behaviour, but ultimately it all comes down to the effectiveness of managment.

There are no bad workers, just bad managers.
I feel sorry for the victims of this dispute, and can understand why they would rail against it.

12

I also note that certain posters have swallowed the managment line about the pay and conditions, that they are paid some amount, when they simply do not.

Why do you think these figures are being circulated, don’t be so frigging naiive?
I only ever believe the reported pay figures when I see the wage slips of the workers concerned, no doubt those working hours are fucking bollox too, the high pay and low hours probably do not match up, one worker might get that much - probably by doing more hours and also are in reciept of special payments, and a few might work those hours - but for far less money, but you can be pretty sure that these are exceptions - classic case of management propaganda.

I would need to know the exact working practices before I evaluated the employment remuneration package - things like training, working hours, shift work, standby hours, reporting of data etc. I do not kow any of these things, and you lot don’t either but you seem very keen ot make judgments upon information that you cannot verify and has been put out in a partisan manner.

Look at your own terms and conditions, for my part you could say that my own job has around 22 hours actual contact time with my clients, but trust me, that is nothing like what I have to do in terms of preparation or accountability - I end up doing plenty or work at home - but what figure do you think wold hit the media if I went on strike?

Don’t be so fucking naiive.

13

Even if I totally respect the right to go on a strike, there are a few rules to strikes. Both parties are supposed to follow those. And calling in sick instead of declaring a strike (which, according to the media up here, those fuckers have been doing), is downright deplorable. They’re deliberately undermining the rights of honest workers to be able to call in sick when they are sick and not getting serious financial problems if they get something which takes more than a week to recover from. Bastards.

Is your salary (which incidentally, is roughly one order of magnitude above what normal people get) going to be cut a little bit during recession, and because of that you knowingly undermine workers’ rights? Boo fucking hooo. Look somewhere else for sympathy, you ain’t getting mine.

14

:stuck_out_tongue:

15

If you do a google search, all the usual reactionary media forces are arrayed in line to condemn these workers, that alone sets my alarm bells ringing.

Turns out, they have had their pay cut, working hours increased, breaks reduced, new lower limits on maternity and paternity leave, and their shift pattern rearranged, so they work 28 days without a break, remember these are 24 hour shift patterns, and I can tell you that 10 days on shift can leave you feeling like on your knees after the 8 or 9th day.

Their union has since put their complaints through the Spanish courts, in March, but were not succesful, so if you can’t get any joy with the employer through the law, you have to use your industrial muscle

Their contracts were unilaterally changed by their employers so that a Spanish ATC can be relocated anywhere that the employer decides, there are a number of operational changes where decisions are taken out of the hands of the local controllers in the interests of ‘efficiency’ regarding aircraft in the air, the union says it has been done without due safety considerations

They also voted 98% for 3 days industrial action and that was back in August, they even called off this action - presumably because some sort of promises were made, and given the recent action its highly likley these promises were not met.

You’d think by this date that management would have some sort of a fucking clue, especially as the pay cuts took place in February - you should also note that between 2005-06 that 6 of these staff died in their work posts - seems there are other issues here because lets face it, this is not exactly a huge workforce so its quite high mortality in one year.

One point for our ATC poster, I bet you do not pay anything like the same tax as these ATC, the pay that has been quoted here is definately not take home pay - more company propaganda, the chances are they they will be taxed at a higher rate than most of the Spanish workforce.

I also note that those ATC who fail to work can be prosecuted and prison terms of up to 10 years can be awarded - how the fuck do you operate industrial relations with trust on that basis?

Anyone here face the same sanctions for withdrawal of labour? Thought not.

You can bet they did not go into this lightly.

The real root of these issues is that the Spanish government is trying to sell ofF ATC and other state run services in a bid to raise money to stave off the problems that Ireland is facing, yet its Spanish banks that have taken over so many failing financial instituions in Europe and its the Spanish government that subsidised those fucking incompetant financial houses thats noW trying to screw its own workforce over.

Any votes for 10 year imprisonrment of bankers? Thought not.

Whilst some of you may well be envious of the terms and conditions of these workers, why the fuck should they then have to settle for less?

These things were negotiated and agreements were made, why should managers have the right to break their own agreements?

What is there to prevent further detrimental changes to them or to other workers?

What is the point in having a contract of employment if the employer can change it whenever they wish?

You may be jealous of what they have, but its theirs and they have every right to defend it.

They are also being used in the Spanish media as a whipping post to subdue others into accepting cuts to their own terms and conditions due to ‘the recession’ - you know, the one caused by the bankers who have been bailed out by the taxpayers of the developed world, the very same bankers who are continuing to pay themselves bonuses - albeit reduced - when the fuckers should be hung from the nearest street light.

16

As a point of order, this is because, as I mentioned in the OP, right now a state of alarm has been declared (according to article 116 of the Spanish Constitution) and the air traffic controllers have been put directly under military control. Refusing to work under those conditions would equate to disobeying a direct justified military order, and that is what carries the prison term of up to 10 years in a military prison. These measures are valid for the duration of the sate of alarm, which is a non-extendable 15 days.

17

Well, I look at my own terms and conditions… No overtime pay whatsoever (no matter how much extra time I might end up spending doing my job, and although we are supposed to do your usual 40 hours/week I constantly end up working more than that), I may be ordered at any moment to pick up my tent and go work somewhere else in a completely different country… And yet we, as a collective, have never gone berserk in this way.

I don’t know; I only know that a Spanish air controller from a mailing list I frequent said, and I quote:

"No, si ya he dicho en alguna lista que yo no hubiera hecho esto. Ha sido una explosión de rabia contenida que se ha hecho sin estar meditada y sin pensar. Lo suyo sería avisar con tiempo y convocar un día de paro, y si los servicios mínimos se consideran abusivos no se cumplen totalmente, pero si se deja que haya un mínimo en la sala que pueda mover aviones ambulancia, militares y de la policia y casos similares.

Pero yo no decido las acciones a adoptar, una vez decididas tengo que apoyarlas porque en la unidad está nuestra fuerza."

Translation (emphasis mine):

"No, I have already said in other mailing lists that I would not have done this. It was an explosion of pent-up rage that was carried out without thinking it over and without previous meditation. The right thing to do would have been to give advance warning and announce a day of strikes. If the minimal services are considered abusive, then we don’t follow them completely, but we allow for a minimum of personnel in the place to deal with ambulance airplanes, military, police, and the like.

But I do not decide the actions that are adopted. Once they are decided I must support them because in unity is our strength".

As far as I know, there were impromptu meetings in the work centers of the airports and the walk-outs (and call-ins as “sick”) took place immediately afterwards. This, in combination with what this controller wrote, makes me really think that this was not a properly meditated action, but a spur-of-the-moment decision taken in an emotionally charged atmosphere, and thus a wildcat strike.

Just one thing regarding the last line of this controller’s message: In my own office, we have had our union proposing action plans in assembly that I have found absurd and counter-productive, and those plans were approved in assemblies that were very emotionally charged. I thereafter refused to carry those actions out (and was not the only one), and later on it became clear that those actions ended up damaging us. Those of us who were against them the whole time felt rather vindicated (although it didn’t help with the fallout we also had, anyway). I think that when a decision is reached in en emotionally-charged atmosphere, chances are it is not the best decision to take, and I strongly feel that it is not right to support it.

But that is just my personal opinion.

18

Well thats just democracy, you can decide to take, or not to take action.If you don’t like changes to your job, you have the freedom to walk out, perhaps seek employment elsewhere.

The employers are also free to employ other workers - this is the nature of industrial relations, who has the most muscle and which side is right - all for discussion.

Lets face it though, some workers withdrawing their labour in this industry is hardly an national emergency upon which the fate of Spain depends.

Its a spurious reason to force workers to work, there is not threat of disorder, nor is the fate of the nation dependant upon it, and no-one is going to lose their lives, to put this on national emergance war footing is absolutely an abuse - mere inconvenience is not any sort of national emergency.

They have the right to strike, and if it affects their future employment prospects, then that is a matter for them.

Why do you think they took this action on the spur of the moment? I’d suggest a long running issue of frustration finally boiled over - they had enough, and that alone suggests some serious industrial relations issues - and management must take some of the responsibility for that.

These are not children with petty spitefulness, it may have escaped your notice, but they are not doing this because it is amusing, there are real problems, workers do not walk out if they are going to lose income - they have as much to lose as anyone, so for them to feel pushed into this situation means there is plenty wrong.

19

As individuals, that’s obviously untrue. But I’m assuming that you’re referring to workers as a group, in which case, tell me - are union leaders considered workers or managers?

20

Everything that happens in a workplace is ulitmately the responsibility of managers.

Worker does not work effectively? - manager should deal

Worker goes on strike? - manager should deal

Union controls the workplace? - Manager should deal.
The root cause of all issues in any workplace is how it is handled by managers.