I am yet to come across any SOLAS equipment in the former Bouchard fleet. A handful of the boats are SOLAS capable but were not certified.
Bouchard used the Intercon pinning system, Centerline historically built ATBs with Articouple pins. Also, some differences in ballast water treatment and IG systems.
Multiple Bouchard tugs are SOLAS approved and certified and equipped with BWTS.
I shouldn’t have to apply to see it’ll it’s worth my time. Any time you see “competitive pay” or “Industry standards” the employee is getting screwed.
Can you confirm if the NY bargaining unit took a pay decrease last contract?
Probably best to stick with where you’re at then - no one wants a contentious start to a new opportunity. I wish you the best!
Agree on the BWTS. Disagree on the certified portion of the SOLAS - atleast current SOLAS certs.
I cannot give you any info about NY.
In LA/SF the so called SIU agreement(which was voluntarily recognized by the company and never voted on by membership) Is around $4 dollars less an hour for a deckhand and around $6 less an hour for deck/engineer VS the IBU agreement. The captains in LA have not had a raise in about 3 years and the previous raise was a measly 4 percent which took about 4 years to obtain.
The company determines on their own what industry standard should be not what it really is.
I am not sure there is a single thing in this post that is true.
Let’s start with “voluntary recognition” - as an employer when you’re notified by a union that they have enough employees asking for the union to represent them you as the company have to recognize that union.
Your wage rates are not close to correct and your timelines are off by months and years.
The average captain seniority in Los Angeles is 20+ years. I will let that speak for itself.
You ignored my other remarks and chose to reply with a select version of a portion of contracts without bothering to show all of the other items in these agreements.
If you would like to get on the same page and discuss. You can always give me a ring - my cell number is always on my emails.
I think the difference might be that in the maritime business you are choosing to work for that company knowing it’s not in your backyard. So the inherent travel costs are on you by knowing the circumstances before you applied/took the job.
In your example that person is likely contracted out to other customers who are knowingly paying a guy to come to their location to make repairs. So the customer is ultimately paying all of the OT, travel time, etc…
I think it’s apples/oranges.
Regardless of the differing opinions, the fact that a CEO for a rather large company in our industry is taking the time to post and follow this conversation says quite a lot IMO…
The fact that he uses his name when posting makes me respect him.
Interesting table in the deleted post above. It won’t copy and paste.
IBU VS SIU agreement in LA.
The customer is paying the day rate for my tug and barge too.
The cost of crew, including their travel, is built into the day rate, as is fuel, repairs, insurance, office overhead, etc. Ultimately, all of this is being paid by the customer.
The cost of tax deductible crew travel is trivial to the company and the customer.
Maritime has to compete with non maritime for staff.
Ever wondered why it’s so hard to hire a good engineer now?
A good marine engineer can often find better paying opportunities, plus all of the typical corporate covered expenses, benefits, and perks in a shoreside sales engineer or service tech job.
There are so many companies and available job paying travel, that it’s easy to dismiss out of hand any company that is not paying travel.
In the current job market, any Mariner (good, bad or ugly) that wants to work is working, and probably working more than he wants to.
Experienced mariners who have been around for awhile and know a few people, are getting a fair number of unsolicited calls offering jobs with the recently increased 2021 day rate clearly stated.
Our own employers, and former employers, are also calling us and asking whether we know anyone, anyone at all, with valid credentials in hand, that might be available to work immediately.
Under these circumstances, why would a Mariner waste his time filling out applications for potential jobs that may not exist, at unknown wages, that no one in the understaffed office will probably ever read.
SIU New York guys lost all holiday pay, pension days cut from 225 days a year (for 180 worked) down to 125 day cap, and a 7% pay cut off their base wage, $41 a day travel pay cut to 0, and as a final slap in the face .50 off their grub. If you think the Bouchard units are going to be any different, I wish you the best. These are facts, and as transparent as it gets.
What is the point of paying union dues if they don’t work for you to get the best contract that they (on behalf of their members) and the company can agree on? I would be furious if the union was negotiating BACKWARDS on my pay and benefits.
Why? Why did SIU NY agree to accept this horseshit?
All over America, workers of every kind are scarce. Wages are rising. There is significant inflation. The Federal Government is flooding the economy with money. Companies are getting $$$ millions in Paycheck Protection loans, which often don’t have to be paid back.
Because the SIU is a garbage union. They are no more than a employment agency that works with the companies.
Centerline got $10 million in PP loans just FYI.
