Belgocontrol ATC strikes 2016

[sean1982]

In case they forgot, some 3 weeks ago the airport was victim to a terrible crime, and the community has worked day and night to get it back on its feet

ATCOs are amongst the very people that worked hard to allow flights to operate.
They had to find solutions when BRU closed just before the arrival peak of the morning, with already weaknesses in the staffing.
Some came back from holidays to provide ATC, some worked an insane number of days/nights week ends in a row, some had to be relocated. So yes, ATCOs are fully aware of what happened, and participated the effort.
.

Welcome to the real world I would say. That's what happens when you get spoiled for too long, you lose all contact with reality.

[Nevihta]

, that you earn €12000 per month, and you demand to retire at 85% of that at age 55...

That simple sentence shows how disinformed you are, and how you're not questioning what you read/see/listen, or you don't want to...
It's not even a confidential information, it's published somewhere in the "Moniteur".

I'm not entering again the debate on is it a strike or not, is it a good moment or not... we won't agree anyway.

I'm just telling you there's simply not enough ATCOs to provide full service, hence the flow, cancelled flights etc...
When militaries ATCOs were available and ready to work for Belgocontrol, management (and probably ministry of defense) refused that they switched to Belgocontrol.
There has already been understaffing before that "agreement", the FIR was closed due to understaffing a couple of days before.
This is happening, and will happen again, and it will have nothing to see with social resentment.
It takes approximately 3 years to completely train an ATCO ab initio, so even if a recruitment is started now...
I'm going to tell you another thing I'm more aware of, plenty of vital systems in Belgocontrol are in a really bad shape.
The sky had to be cleared at least 3 times this year, that's something you expect to see once or twice in a career.

So expect other disruptions because of the systems too, radar, flight plan management etc...

[RTM]

Yet they coped with it up to now. Given the present circumstances, they should cope with it till at least after the summer peak. Remember the extra effort?

Sad thing is, I would have been on your side, but this hijack at this time, I can not support... no way, no how...

[Jetter]

I'm not entering again the debate on is it a strike or not, is it a good moment or not... we won't agree anyway.

Just this remark already shows the truth. If it isn't a strike and people were really unfit to work you can't argue it is a good moment at the same time.

This is happening, and will happen again, and it will have nothing to see with social resentment. (...) So expect other disruptions because of the systems too, radar, flight plan management etc...

Fine, if this happens we won't blame the BGATC. But how does that justify abusing the unfit to work rule in any way?

[Nevihta]

I'm not entering again the debate on is it a strike or not, is it a good moment or not... we won't agree anyway.

Just this remark already shows the truth. If it isn't a strike and people were really unfit to work you can't argue it is a good moment at the same time.

Good moment for management to declare a war with ATCOs...

[Passenger]

I'm not entering again the debate on is it a strike or not, is it a good moment or not... we won't agree anyway.

Just this remark already shows the truth. If it isn't a strike and people were really unfit to work you can't argue it is a good moment at the same time.

Good moment for management to declare a war with ATCOs...

What you call "a declaration of war" is actually a democratic decision in the Parliament: the whole Belgian pension retirement structure of this country fails, so everybody has to contribute. Actually, what you demand is the opposite: you are already the best paid civil servants, you have already the best retirement plan, but yet you refuse to contribute. Why? Puur eigenbelang. Egoism.

[Jetter]

Good moment for management to declare a war with ATCOs...

Not smart to consider an agreement with the Socialist union as a declaration of war imo. While ATCO should be a respected job, they now are the most disliked employees within the aviation sector and consider spoiled, totally irresponsible and egoistic by the general public. I'd worry more about that and the ones responsible for said image instead of blaming management for having to retire at 58.

[Apuneger]

Maybe a 'stupid' question, but why exactly is Belgocontrol understaffed, in terms of atco's? If this is related to financials, then why not simply raise your fees and/or request additional budget from your shareholders? I'm sure there are some ICAO standards for atco staffing levels, and shareholders shouldn't mind to comply with those standards.

Last year Belgocontrol organised a massive recruitement & selection campaign. Thousands of interested persons entered the selection process, for...12 positions IIRC?

If this understaffing issue is a fundamental problem and has reached a critical level, then it's up to Belgocontrol Management to solve it, one way or another.

Best regards,
Ivan

[Nevihta]

Good moment for management to declare a war with ATCOs...

Not smart to consider an agreement with the Socialist union as a declaration of war imo. .

Ask syndicalists, even green and blue feel betrayed and have never seen a common union (between unions) being that betrayed. Socialists signed on their own when they engaged themselves in a common procedure.
They signature was enough to validate the agreement.

Regarding the staffing, the management is in charge of that, and it's not in the interest of the management to recruit (very expensive, and long procedure to train). As the CEO has a mandate for 5 years, he postpones (with short term solutions) as much as he can to keep a financial balance as good as possible.

[Hue]

More context on atco's (dutch) http://www.dewereldmorgen.be/artikel/20 ... te-verhaal

[sn26567]

The Belgian Guild of Air Traffic Controllers (BGATC) denied again today (Saturday) that it incited actions and serves notice to Belgocontrol and its CEO, Johan Decuyper, according to a letter sent to the management of Belgocontrol by Peter Luypaers, attorney for Maryse Meulemans, the chair of BGATC. "Mrs. Meulemans has noted with surprise and indignation" the formal letter sent by Belgocontrol last week asking her to come back to work, wrote her lawyer in the mail sent to Belgocontrol. She denies inciting actions and denounces the action "wrongly" qualified as "collective" by Belgocontrol.

The chair of the BGATC decided to serve notice to Belgocontrol for several reasons, including "the unacceptable lack of reliability of hardware and software, including Eurocat, with which air traffic controllers hould work," denounces the letter sent by BGATC. "After several problems, the Guild had sent in recent years dozens of emails and letters to various authorities, to no avail."

"A blatant ignorance by Belgocontrol and its CEO of the aggravated responsibility and decision-making competence of each air traffic controller to continually assess his ability to work and decide if he has 100% of his concentration" is also mentioned.

Next is the structural lack of staff already denounced repeatedly by the Guild. Mrs. Meulemans recalls, through her lawyer, a plan of staffing requirements had already been promised for January 2014. "A broken promise." This promise was therefore recalled several times, including on 7 October 2015 during a meeting between a delegation of air traffic controllers and Mr Decuyper. A plan presented last March is still deemed insufficient.

Finally, the notice also mentions "the slanderous and incorrect qualification of the action as collective by Belgocontrol after the decision of some air traffic controllers to get in temporary disability."

As a reminder: Wednesday, Belgocontrol warned the Guild of Air Traffic Controllers by a letter, wishing its members back to work. The organization is accused by management of Belgocontrol for asking its members to report ill. Tuesday, Belgocontrol reached an agreement in joint committee about the social conflict that was ongoing since mid-February, but the agreement did not satisfy the Guild of Air Traffic Controllers (80 of the 280 air traffic controllers of the country) which would soon ask members to report sick.

Source: Belga

[convair]

Wasn't there a few years (?) ago a plan for a single ATC system covering all Europe?

[Hue]

Full notice of default by Belgian Guild of Air Traffic Controllers to Belgocontrol and CEO Decuyper.

http://bgatc.be/attachments/article/21/ ... 202016.pdf

[Jetter]

Full notice of default by Belgian Guild of Air Traffic Controllers to Belgocontrol and CEO Decuyper.

http://bgatc.be/attachments/article/21/ ... 202016.pdf

15 Pages but the issue she needed to explain most isn't mentioned at all. How can she not realize Belgocontrol and everyone else in Belgium think she organized personel being unfit for work because she reminded them of that possibility just 2 days before? A reminder that didn't have any relevancy on the subject but for the relation with the 'actions, from Monday on'. Surely Maryse didn't doubt if her highly educated colleagues were aware of that rule? Otherwise a reminder to not drink alcohol ahead of work and to take enough breaks would have made just as much sense. The only logical explanation is that she mentioned the unfit to work rule to incite colleagues being unfit as part of the actions, and this means she is lying.

If Maryse keeps ignoring her reminder her 15 pages with other content don't impress me the least. She'd better take responsibility for the problems she caused at BRU and the PR disaster she caused for her colleagues.

[Hue]

Again, Jetter. 'On monday actions restart' on the 9th referred to strike on training days Leuven Rechtdoor. Had been going on for months. No-one could predict there would be a signed agreement not supported by ATC on the 12th.
There even is an e-mail from the 12th itself 17:00LT detailing the negotations, in which no mention to any action, strike or unfit to work is made.

You all got fooled in a well organised PR battle that atco's went on strike deliberately as selfish bastards without any empathy for the world around them. The truth is atco's first priority is safety. This week, next year and in 2 decades.

[Jetter]

Again, Jetter. 'On monday actions restart' on the 9th referred to strike on training days Leuven Rechtdoor. (...) You all got fooled in a well organised PR battle that atco's went on strike deliberately as selfish bastards without any empathy for the world around them. The truth is atco's first priority is safety. This week, next year and in 2 decades.

Even if the 'actions restart' didn't apply anymore, that letter shows using the 'unfit to work' rule as accepted course of action (it had no relevancy in that letter otherwise). Of course people are then gonna have their mind made up when within a few days many atco's are unfit to work.

Also I've heard that 60+% of the newly unfit atco's were members of the BGATC, that represents ~25% of all atco's. You might be able to deny or confirm this. But, if true, a bit too coincidental no?

[RTM]

Or maybe the scenario of the unfit for duty action was only verbally briefed, so no paper trace (= evidence) was left behind. The "reminder" in the letter was simply the trigger to execute the plan...

[Passenger]

Had been going on for months. No-one could predict there would be a signed agreement not supported by ATC on the 12th.

Stop fooling us. 12th April was just the official vote / notification during the PC/CP meeting (paritair comité). The agreement (or disagreement) was reached/voted on 8th April afternoon, during the meeting with Belgocontrol. That meeting ended with a vote: one official union disagreed, one unofficial union disagreed, the others agreed. The "shock" for all atco's should therefore have appeared on 08th April or 09 April, when Maryse told you what the outcome of the meeting was. That the "shock" only happened on 12th April, after the PC/CP meeting, proofs that it was a strike, organized by Maryse's guild through her email campaign from Saturday.

You all got fooled in a well organised PR battle that atco's went on strike deliberately as selfish bastards without any empathy for the world around them.

Maybe you should leave your Ivory tower and read newspapers / magazines / editorials / watch debate programs on tv. What you call "a well organised PR battle" is actually the anger from tens of thousands of passengers and the anger of millions of Belgians. Belgocontrol or Brussels Airport didn't have to organize anything: you have organized "the PR battle" all by yourself.

Few days ago, a VRT reporter asked Ivo Belet (a very moderate center politician and very union minded) if the atco unions have shot themselves in the foot. Reply: "they've shot themselves in the head. Nobody takes them serious anymore, and they cannot negociate a better deal now because they've already used their ultimate weapon (to strike)".

The truth is atco's first priority is safety. This week, next year and in 2 decades.

That may be your truth, but it's not the perception that millions of Belgians now have. I dear to say that they think that safety is your second priority, with own bank account on one.

[Nevihta]

Also I've heard that 60+% of the newly unfit atco's were members of the BGATC, that represents ~25% of all atco's. You might be able to deny or confirm this. But, if true, a bit too coincidental no?

You should check the numbers of affiliates, not believing what medias tell you...
All the ATCOs reporting sick have been controlled, and I heard none have been sanctioned.

[Jetter]

All the ATCOs reporting sick have been controlled, and I heard none have been sanctioned.

The point is that don't even have to be sick, many didn't even report sick afaik, but 'unfit for work' which is something different. Even if the ATCO's that have been reporting sick have been controlled and not sanctioned, then that doesn't refute my statement that BGATC members were highly overrepresented in any way.