Of course they dont deserve it. Along with the shineys, where are their airworthyness responsibilities when they sign paperwork????
Who checks the fuel for contamination and FSII content? Who signs the paperwork as having checked it and in OOA environments who is responsible for blending the fuel to the correct ratio?
This film is as true today as it was when it was made.
As an aside, in the process of deciding if a trade should be up-banded, many aspects (such as retention problems, comparative pay to the civil sector and a number of other factors) are considered along with 'airworthiness responsibilities' because 'airworthiness responsibilities' alone couldn't be used as a decider because everyone has an impact on flight safety/airworthiness, or haven't you been in long enough to have been shown that film in basic training?
To be honest though I find the fact 'techies' get so upset about trades getting moved to 'their' pay band pretty odd but also quite amusing.
Money isn't being taken out of your pockets, you'll still be earning the same. If only 'techies' were on the higher pay band would you all still be happy with what you are being paid or would you be up in arms demanding more? Its not a slight on the worth of 'techies', just a realisation that the world has moved on and other professions are now viewed with greater importance than they once were.
An unfortunate (depending on your POV of course) side-effect of modern warfare is that the logistics footprint is now much larger and more complex than it once was and to ensure as smooth a running as possible its necessary to retain the best logistics people you can to run it. Good Cpls/Sgts within the RAF logistics organisation are much sought after in the the civil sector and the pay is a fair whack more than currently offered by the MoD. This has to be counted otherwise the occasional "its no good pointing, USAS says there are none in stock" will become far more frequent. Companies such as MAS, DHL, BAe etc can and do 'headhunt' staff in the RAF and I know of a few personally who have slipped away to pastures new, lured by significant wage increases.
For all this chat though nothing has been confirmed. If Cpls/Sgts in the Supply Trade do get moved to the higher pay band I believe that its fair. SACs in some posts do have a fair bit of responsibility (CLA on TSW for example) but these are few and far between and as such are the exception rather than the rule. I also believe its right and proper to keep FSgts on lower pay band and move WOs down as at that level, as with all trades, the role is predominately administrative.
DT_Xtremez_14: