USCA and Aena reach agreement on new collective agreement for air traffic controllers

Aena and USCA have reached a basic agreement on the negotiation of the new collective agreement for the air traffic controllers which guarantees both service provision and industrial peace. The agreement considers the 12 points initially rose by the air traffic controllers at the start of negotiations and fit them into the legal framework established by Law 9 / 2010 and Royal Decree for activity and rest times. Thus, similar working conditions as their European colleagues while a higher salary are guaranteed.

Thus, the agreement provides among other things:

• Working hours: maximum number of working hours is set up to 1,670 hours per year, as required by the law. However, the shifts will be scheduled depending on the workload of each centre. To this end, four categories of centres are established in terms of hours necessary to ensure service delivery: the first category includes units that require 1,200 working hours, 1,300 for the second category, in the third 1,400, and 1,500 in the fourth. In the case in any of these units were needed more hours to fulfil the service, provided the annual top limit of 1,670, these are guaranteed by a procedure agreed by the parties. As for the provision for sick leaves or any kind of incident, it is established a dual mechanism: on the one hand, 'be on call' services with personnel at hand around the clock are scheduled next to ordinary shifts, covering the incidents occurring in the day. Those incidents that occur 48 hours before the start of the service will be covered on a voluntary basis, with the limitation of two services per month at the most, with the top limit of the 80 overtime hours allowed by law.
• Compensation: pay is determined in accordance with the law 9 / 2010 and depending on the workload of each centre. The agreement guarantees an average annual salary of 200,000 Euro until the year 2013 for operational air traffic controllers. The wage bill of the year 2010 is 480 million Euros, which includes the insurance costs referred to in the chapter of social benefits.
• Air Traffic Controllers over 57 years old: Aena is committed to providing non-operational tasks to controllers over 57 years old who, as required by law, must leave the operational functions.
• Workload: an audit on sector and control towers capacity with the participation the EUROCONTROL Agency will be carry out.
• Pattern Configurations: Aena is to create a working group with Aprocta (the professional association of air traffic controllers) aiming to propose improvements to each of the centres pattern configurations.
• Training: Aena is to create a working group with Aprocta aiming to make proposals for training improvement that cover continuing education, linguistic skills and career development.
• Collective Agreement: the negotiations on the collective agreement are to be immediately restarted.

Aena welcomes the achievements made with this agreement since it does ensure the continuation of negotiations in a context of normality and compromised and peaceful dialogue, by committing to an atmosphere of operational routine, cordiality and mutual understanding in the social and labour relations environment.

It will likewise allow Aena to meet the objectives of efficiency, reduce en-route rates by 15% and write off the operating deficit of Air Navigation. Both the management of Aena and USCA have expressed their desire the negotiations develop with normality within the confines of the negotiation committee.