Dear Colleague
Action required by all members: Prospect data cleansing
As you should be aware, we are currently engaged in protracted negotiations with NATS on the 1 January 2016 pay award. The discussions cover members of our ATCOs’ and ATSS Branches who are employed in a ‘negotiated’ grade by NATS Ltd. Both branches have members who are not covered by these negotiations – including those in NATS’ Personal Contract Group, employees of other NATS companies or associated companies (eg NATS Solutions Ltd and Aquila), people in NATS’ unit in Gibraltar and a growing number of members employed by other ANSPs (including BAATL, ANS, Serco and The London Heliport Ltd).
Over the last year or so, the branches’ membership has become more diverse and complicated and, of course, there is an increasing amount of movement between units and employers. This makes direct communication with the members affected by particular issues and negotiations ever more challenging.
We ask all members to check your Prospect membership record and to amend any details that need updating no later than Tuesday, 16 February 2016. You can do this by logging-in to the Prospect website: www.prospect.org.uk
If you are not already registered with the national site, you will need to register to get the necessary permissions. If you do not know your membership number, please contact annette.cooper@prospect.org.uk and we can look you up on the system and let you know. Once logged-in, find your membership details by clicking on Change your settings and then the My details tab. Check the following in particular:
EMPLOYMENT DETAILS
Employer – ensure the correct company name is recorded here
WORKPLACE DETAILS
Make sure your main place of work is recorded correctly here
EMAIL ADDRESSES
Please ensure that we have a current personal email address here and that the box is checked as your Preferred address. This is so we can communicate with you other than over your employer’s systems.
Members who are in NATS’ Personal Contract Group should email aviation@prospect.org.uk so that we can verify that we have that information on our system.
This process should only take a few minutes, but it is essential that our records are as accurate as possible.
In addition, although the vast majority of members in both branches pay their union subscriptions via direct debit, there are a sizeable number who have their subs deducted from pay each month – a system called ‘check-off’. That system is coming under increasing pressure (in particular, from the government) and, of course, an employer can terminate that facility at any time. For these reasons, Prospect is running a campaign to convert members to direct debit. We are urging members who pay by check-off to convert. There is a direct link to this simple process in the news ‘ticker’ at the top of the Prospect home page, or click here: www.prospect.org.uk/direct_debit
Finally, members need to make sure that they are registered with their branch’s website. Both ATCOs’ and ATSS Branches have their own standalone sites:
http://www.prospectatss.org.uk
These are increasingly used as the main vehicle for communications with members. News on the pay talks will be available here first and in more detail than elsewhere.
Both branches also have twitter feeds – a good way of receiving news alerts:
@ATCOsBranch
@ProspectATSS
It is essential that all members take the action described in this email. By doing so, you will help Prospect keep you informed and provide you with even better representation.
Thank you
Steve Jary
National Secretary
