For the first time the CAA’s Aviation House will see pickets at it’s door later this week. Image UKCAA
Staff at the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) represented by the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) have, for the first time, voted to strike following the latest pay offer from the regulator which offered increases of 4% for the lowest earners and 3% for other grades. The action will commence with a two day strike on the 16 & 17 January the two day strike will be followed by a a continuous work to rule (no overtime) ands further strikes if called.
The union says that PCS members in the CAA have seen their wages stagnate due to below inflation pay increases over several years. When comparing the pay of the CAA against the aviation industry they fall well short as their pay awards have previously been linked to the civil service pay remit.
A PCS member at the CAA said: “We are taking strike action as a last resort to try and combat the growing void between what the business expects of its workers, and how it treats those same workers. For over a decade, the business has gradually worn away at real time salaries, making employees’ roles worth much less than this time a decade ago. This makes it more difficult to retain staff, and to recruit new staff. Benefits have been cut, and a lack of proper internal governance has created an environment of disparity across the organisation, which there seems very little intention to rectify, stoking division and mistrust. The CAA highlights every year, a lack of money and cuts needing to be made, against a backdrop of a record-breaking, growing industry. Rather than regulate the aviation sector, the CAA seems intent to subsidise it, to the detriment of its own workforce.”
