I do a low carb high fat high protein diet. It works great.
[QUOTE=Lookout;82693]I recently paid $300 for a physical & drug screen in order to get a clinic card from a union. It was required by the employer. No card - no job. I got the same physical & drug screen for only $100, at a private clinic in Manhattan just six months ago when I renewed. In addition at the union clinic, I had to spend fours hours drive time, tolls, and gas, to get to the union clinic. The private clinic was less than an hour away.[/QUOTE]
You only have to pay for your first physical with the SIU. After that your anual clinic card physicals are free. Also, if you need a CG physical, just notify your port agent and you can get that at the same time. Also free.
My union physicals both annual and CG haven’t cost me a dime. They pay my travel expenses to get to the clinic.
I’m a mariner, not a airplane pilot.
I haven’t worked with anyone who is a 300 lb. chain smoker on a tug or a ship. As for blood pressure, diabetes, and any other disease, that would be between him and his doctor. I know someone who has smoked a pack of Lucky Strikes a day for decades, he is 82 and still gets around on his own power just fine. My point being what appears unhealthy to the untrained eye may in fact be acceptable for another person’s body.
A doctor is qualified to make the decision on whether a man is fit for duty aboard a vessel. Cap, unless your credentials come with a medical degree I would say you are entitled to your opinion but way out of your scope to pass judgement on someone’s physical condition. Any mariner can lie on the medical statement they fill out before taking a physical and chances are their condition won’t be detected. That is what the current medical NVIC 04-08, is encouraging. Besides, do Coast Guard Designated Medical Examiners have more integrity than the average doctor? Do you know the answer to that question too?
Mariners don’t have the retirement resources of airline pilots, some have to keep working. Unreasonable delays in renewals have and will continue to cause the loss of a jobs and medical insurance coverage. The mariner is left with having to pay for expensive medical test to prove his/her fitness for duty while living without his income.
If the Coast Guard wants to hold mariners to military standards of health conditioning, then provide a military-like support system for the mariners they regulate; things like free medical care and 20 year retirement options are a part of the Coast Guard benefit package, why not for mariners in the interest of safety?
The problem with having certified marine doctors is that they will all be along the cost and those of us who live in the center of the country are going to have to spend several hours to get there and possibly a night in a hotel room.
The reason it works for pilot is that they fly every where so it’s easier to find a certified doctor close to a commercial airport, boats obviously are geographically limited in where they can go so you’re only going to get certified doctors close to the coast.
Ok, now that you put your ‘real’ reason for the OP question… Your question, answer, and real meaning come through. Still not sure what you are looking for. The fountain of youth? I understand and applaud you to take time to get involved. If I went to these tsac and mmsac meetings I would in all liklihood not be able to renew my TWIC card due to the mayhem I would most definitely cause.
I recently had four (4) physicals (the USCG physical and the US DOT physical were done at the same time by the same doctor) at my expense. I had to drive several hours each way (twice) for the other two physicals. I had to pay for one them myself. I don’t have a problem with these types of physicals. The company paid for the other physical.
The smart way would be for the USCG to just require that the new STCW compliant Marine Medical be done by a doctor certified to do US DOT or FAA physicals, but being the government they will probably institute an entire new process to qualify doctors. Doctors approved for the USCG will be few and far between for the first few years. The USCG Marine Medical should be through and if a guy passes, conclusive proof that he is fit for duty in the position licensed. The companies should not be allowed to require any further physicals if a guy has a Marine Medical card.
[QUOTE=Lookout;82614]I’m wondering how the more experienced mariners, 50 years old and over, who lost jobs due to the slow economy are faring in their job search. Are you finding age discrimination blocking your path to a good job? Do company hiring agents suddenly become unresponsive after a successful Skype or Job Interview?
What is your experience?[/QUOTE]
I’m 44 and will be trying to get into the industry in a few months hopefully. I’m hoping my age doesn’t hurt my chances. I’m planning on going to the SIU school in Piney Point since I have zero experience on ships. I do have my TWIC and Passport. I only need the MMC for the step 1 of the process.
Define: “young fella”…I’ll give you the eyes…but not the joints and disks part. Yes, if you are over weight, you may be subject to joint and disk problems. Don’t blame it on hard labor. Take care of your body and it will take care of you. And for the record…what do you consider “hard labor”? What’s your perception of hard labor? Based on your posts…sounds like you have been up in the pilot house for quite some time. I have been out on deck…in the towing industry…from hawser boats to wire boats and now ATBs. Some may consider that hard labor and some may not. Your perception is your reality. Just sayin’.
Fountain of Youth?
Nope, just trying to get some first-hand accounts from mariners who may have experienced age discrimination during their job search. I’m doing some free but honest research, attempting to separate rumor from facts. Factual presentation of mariner issues to the various Coast Guard Advisory Committee’s is important to me to remain credible.
I don’t know how much, if any difference I can make at these meetings, but I can say I didn’t remain silent when given the chance to be heard at a TSAC or MMMAC meeting. The meetings are dominated by Coast Guard Officers and management types from the company’s we work for. When I can afford it and my schedule allows, I try to make it to a meeting to deliver a mariners point of view.
Hope more of you can make it to one of these meetings, more individual mariners need to be heard during this time of major changes in our industry. You can sign up to receive information and meeting date notices by email at the NMC Web site. TSAC, MERPAC and MMMAC committee’s help the Coast Guard form policy that directly affects mariners. Come and speak your peace.
[QUOTE=RubberRhib888;82738]Define: “young fella”…I’ll give you the eyes…but not the joints and disks part. Yes, if you are over weight, you may be subject to joint and disk problems. Don’t blame it on hard labor. Take care of your body and it will take care of you. And for the record…what do you consider “hard labor”? What’s your perception of hard labor? Based on your posts…sounds like you have been up in the pilot house for quite some time. I have been out on deck…in the towing industry…from hawser boats to wire boats and now ATBs. Some may consider that hard labor and some may not. Your perception is your reality. Just sayin’.[/QUOTE]
Go to Dutch Harbor or New Bedford and spend the winter the fishing if you want to find out what hard labor is. Bring your ice mallet.
[QUOTE=RubberRhib888;82738]Define: “young fella”…I’ll give you the eyes…but not the joints and disks part. Yes, if you are over weight, you may be subject to joint and disk problems. Don’t blame it on hard labor. Take care of your body and it will take care of you. And for the record…what do you consider “hard labor”? What’s your perception of hard labor? Based on your posts…sounds like you have been up in the pilot house for quite some time. I have been out on deck…in the towing industry…from hawser boats to wire boats and now ATBs. Some may consider that hard labor and some may not. Your perception is your reality. Just sayin’.[/QUOTE]
Nothing against living healthy, and having healthy lifestyle habits, but you should consider that there are far too many people who do everything right, have an athletic build, and for the rest of their life are plagued with chronic back problems, knee surgeries, bad hip or shoulder, and even professional athletes suddenly keel over from a heart attack.
I have spent over 20 years on deck, 7 of which in the Bering Sea fishery, another 5 on chemical tankers, and more hard labor. My back is strong, my knees are strong, and I never take that for granted. I was probably dealt a good hand, but that is only good until you walk up the gangway and slip on some grease on the deck and blow a knee or herniate a disc. I’ve seen it happen.
We all know the guy who had ACL surgery because of a “bad hit” playing high school football don’t we?
It’s a little more complicated than eating an apple a day, eating your spinach, or having your Wheaties for breakfast my friend.
Being in my late 40’s, over 20 years of experience on deck as deckhand/AB, I recently got my Third Mate Unltd. as a hawespiper.
I can see some companies hiring a squeaky-clean 20 year old guy fresh out of maritime academy that they can train to do business the way the company sees fit. This guy has not lived life, hasn’t had a chance to make a mistake, learn from doing things the hard way, or have any professional/social skills.
Personally I think being a hawespiper is underrated. Then again, not everyone learns from their experiences, and if I am on a new ship, it doesn’t matter how much experience I have, I am a greenhorn all over again. Always.
But ruling out physical/health limitations, I would say it is a pretty level playing field. Remembering that you can’t expect an entire crew to be top-class athletes, and your experienced and knowledable crew are going to have a few rough miles on them.
Everyone who has gone to sea for a number of years has worked hard at one point or another. There is age discrimination in any field. I retired from sea at age 50 the went to work rehabbing one of my houses. After ripping out 2500 ft cor carpet, bathrooms, laminate flooring, and all of the kitchen I yearned for an easy engineering job again. I went to work in a factory and hated every day of punching a clock, 1hour commute time, 3-1130pm shift and low pay. I hit the internet hard looking for work and got back out to sea again and love it. Pulling a 3 ton piston with the proper gear is easier than driving home at midnight 5 days a week. I’ll be 54 this year and don’t seem to have a hard time finding work. I’ve been lucky and only had: torn cartilage in one knee, broken thumbs & fingers and quite a few minor burns The guy with low carb diet is right. I’ve lost 15 lbs in a month and I eat a lot of food but limit the carbs. The capt on this boat lost 35lbs in 2 months on it too. Walk when your home to stay in shape (1 hour a day) and lift weights if you can. Think young, act young, and don’t worry about anything (it never accomplished a thing), and you will always be young at heart. I looked for work for 8 months while I worked in that factory with no job offers. Then 3 jobs were offered to me the same week. My high school English teacher said it all one day to me after I wrote my own note excusing myself from an absence after I turned 18 years old. She said I needed a note from a parent . I said I was 18 and an adult and didn’t need a note from my parents. She said she knew many 70 year old men who weren’t adults. She was right about me, I’ll never “grow up” but my age will keep going up. Good luck looking for work!
An old fart is always at least 20 years older than you.
If the Coast Guard wants to hold mariners to military standards of health conditioning, then provide a military-like support system for the mariners they regulate; things like free medical care and 20 year retirement options are a part of the Coast Guard benefit package, why not for mariners in the interest of safety?[/QUOTE]
They are not asking for military standards. They are asking you to be healthy. If they can pass the SCTW standards for getting in a immersion suit and then getting into a life raft, or escaping from a smoke filled room, then …welcome aboard! Otherwise they should be considering what happens if their shipmates have to rescue their 350 lb. frame through a 3x3 escape hatch.
[QUOTE=Lookout;82709]I’m a mariner, not a airplane pilot. I haven’t worked with anyone who is a 300 lb. chain smoker on a tug or a ship. As for blood pressure, diabetes, and any other disease, that would be between him and his doctor. QUOTE]
My first 15 years I sailed, I worked with many 300lb chain smokers. Carried a couple of 'em off in body bags. One croaked while transfering a tow in nasty weather and the other while running anchors. 2 other guys had heart attacks and was at least 24 hours before we could get them off the boat in Brazil and Peru. One captain had a diabetic reaction, went blind temporaly and could have taken out a good piece of the RR dock in Seward. At that time this was between “them and the All Mighty” but the rest of us were caught in the middle.
It wasn’t till I joined the SIU with required annual physicals did the body count decline. Not stopped but tapered off. My last captain had quad bypass and didn’t quit smoking until until 2 years later when he had a ruptured aorta.
How does your statement relate to the original premise of this thread? "Has anyone experienced age discrimination in the maritime industry?
Your “sea stories” are about health issues rather than “age discrimination”: the original subject of this Thread.
That’s simple. No one cares about how old anyone happens to be. They just care about the probability that someone might pose a risk of having higher healthcare costs or filing a lawsuit.
Many US companies have adopted medical requirements for employees, that far far exceed USCG medical standards (and the UK MCA and everywhere else in the world’s seafarer medical standards). This has the effect of discriminating based upon age, and bears absolutely no relationship with what is required to do the job.
It is interesting that the US companies that started this trend, happen to be companies which are “self-insured.” The US for-profit medical profession and insurance industry is heavily promoting healthcare cost mitigation services to companies. The US companies do this for three reasons: the US maritime job market is flooded with mariners, so they can afford to be very selective; they have an irrational fear of being sued; and they want to avoid the employment based health care costs that older workers inevitably have.
Also, US age discrimination laws are a joke and fail to protect workers from this type of age related discrimination. It appears that the government would rather have more people on welfare than have them working, and to create more jobs for welfare workers, and government welfare administrators.
In short, the companies engage in this blatant age discrimination because they have been sold on the concept that it might be more profitable to do so, and the government does nothing to stop them.
I think the sea-going profession holds people with lots of experience in high regard. It can be very demanding work and as long as your still up for it, no problem.
I have had a couple of older mariners who only recently started sailing having shifted professions late in life. This type seem to me to be at a disadvantage, long-time mariners approach things different then non-mariners and sometimes people with a lot of experience ashore can’t seem to shake off the lubberly attitude. They have a harder time ’ developing new habits the mariners need
They also seem to have a harder time with being treated with less professional respect then what they are accustomed to. Most of the younger ones don’t expect people to value their expertise as much and take the bumps and bruises it in stride.
K.C.