"well with collective bargaining, a 401K match would not be able to be rescinded unilaterally nor any other benefits…
BUT Y’ALL JUST LOVE YOUR WORLD DOWN THERE SO ENJOY IT WHILE JOE BOSS TAKETH AWAY!"
How is that not shit throwing?
[QUOTE=dncartersweatte1993;155584]How is that not shit throwing?[/QUOTE]
seriously? What was the highest grade you finished?
Here’s a joke for ya, c.captain!
“How is that not shit throwing?”
Give me your definition of “shit throwing”. I believe our definition differ’s.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;155580]ECO this is the same company that fires people on trumped trivial bullshit instead of admitting what is really going on and laying them off.
When you offer a 401k match and put that in the employee handbook, and people make contributions, its a contract that mamagement is obligated to honor. They do not have the right to say “tough shit boys.”[/QUOTE]
They are not legally obligated. They said they would match, they didn’t promise to match. I bet somewhere in the paperwork they make it clear you are an employee “at will” and they can do pretty much anything they want. You could check with the Louisiana Dept of Labor IF they had one, they don’t. As far as building mansions, keeping the Gulfstream jet and building yachts? Yacht building is doing well, mansions are ‘job creators’ and ECO is but a small part of the “Chouest Family”. Nothing unexpected here. The banks and hedge funds loaned the oil business right into cheap oil so you the wage earner must pay the consequences. The banks, hedge funds and oligarchs will be just fine.
We got the email about not contributing to the 401k but we didn’t receive an email about cutting out travel pay, which they cut in half previously.
[QUOTE=ForkandBlade;155589]We got the email about not contributing to the 401k but we didn’t receive an email about cutting out travel pay, which they cut in half previously.[/QUOTE]
We got the email yesterday morning, then a phone call from our coordinator in the afternoon with the other information. We have a meeting at turnover tonight about the travel pay and safety points cuts. Call your coordinator.
[QUOTE=workboatclass89;155557]“We regret to inform you amid one of the most difficult economic downturns in the oil and gas industry that our company has ever faced, we will not make the company match for the 2014 plan year. Be certain that this decision came after careful thought and consideration. Chouest family” [/QUOTE]
you know, I can just imagine how gut wrenching this decision was for the family to make realizing how they stand to lose a major part of their workforce over this. The though of their people all fleeing in droves from anything with orange paint on it and leaving the company an empty hollow shell with new boats tied up to docks without crews to man them. THE HORROR! But if they tell them how really, really sorry they are the always loyal employees will not rise and march…after all y’all are just one big family all with the same color blood, but that might not fly because all their mariners have so many other places that they can go work at. The whole thing may still explode yet!
my God…how I pity the poor, poor Chouest family right now tonight. Their world must be coming down around their ears.
[QUOTE=workboatclass89;155557]The Chouest Family announced today that they were not going to make the annual company match to ALL their employees 401K plan, Cut travel pay out, & Eliminated the safety points program. As stated in a very poorly & unprofessional letter sent out via e-mail today."We regret to inform you amid one of the most difficult economic downturns in the oil and gas industry that our company has ever faced, we will not make the company match for the 2014 plan year. Be certain that this decision came after careful thought and consideration. Chouest family"
I must be missing something, 2014 was a great year for all vessel operators in the GOM, including the Chouest Family. The construction on C-Port 3 continues, They purchased a luxury yacht construction company in the north west, Numerous new builds were delivered, The recent purchase of Bollinger Shipyards, A new corporate Jet, Dionne Chouest building a multi million dollar home in Galliano.
[B] Looks to me like the employees get the shaft just so the rich folks can keep up that luxurious lifestyle, JUST SAYIN!!![/B][/QUOTE]
Sorry to hear that. I have a lot of friends over there that are actual true friends and good guys. I got hired over there to go work on the C-Commando in Hawaii that is on long term charter to the navy for training exercises and it still wasn’t good enough for me to stay. From the moment I got appointed my coordinator (Brad Wiley) it seemed like they just didn’t really give two $hits about their employees other to make money off our work. I was told that I would immediately be flown out to Oahu after orientation and I tried asking him a few questions about everything because it was unexpected and that’s a long ass way away from home (central FL) and I naturally wanted to know when I’d be returning and flight arrangements and what not. Well after the 2nd question I asked he told me that he had other stuff to do and I should just try emailing him if I wanted to know more. So then I got to Hawaii and reported to my boat and met the captain and right away I knew I wasn’t gonna like it. He asked the typical new embarking questions and what not but then he asked why they sent me to the “his” boat because I wasn’t from there and was from the gulf (He and 90% of the crew was from the west coast and/or lived in Hawaii and he had a very bad dislike for anyone not from Cali and especially didn’t like us GoM boys.) During my hitch the captain constantly harassed me and singled me out and i could tell that it was only a matter of time before i told him to go fuck himself. At the end of my hitch I told the coordinator that I’d rather just work on one of the 100 other mud boats that ECO has in GoM and he told me that he’ll get back to me after my next hitch. I def wasn’t going back to Hawaii to go work for the Itilain Hitler (that’s a nickname the crew gave him) so I told the coordinator I resign. Literally the next day after I quit ECO I got a call from a friend at a smaller but very reputable OSV operator offering me a spot with them making 20% more than ECO and I could either work 28/14 or 14/14 and I’d be in the gulf rather than 4,200 miles away from home in Hawaii.
Sorry for the rant but I never liked ECO from my experience but I’m sad for all my buddies over there that this will hurt. There’s 100 other boat companies in the GoM and they all have their disadvantages but ECO to me def seems like they try to sell you the farm up front and then never treat you like they care. I’ve worked for a couple of the big boys in Fourchon and ECO was by far the worse. But hey, at least they “never” lay off anybody over there.
My travel pay, 6% 401k match, safety points and big grocery budget is still going strong so I’m happy and the busy season is a month away!
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[QUOTE=adefiniteproduct;155590]We got the email yesterday morning, then a phone call from our coordinator in the afternoon with the other information. We have a meeting at turnover tonight about the travel pay and safety points cuts. Call your coordinator.[/QUOTE]
I thought I smelt your ass on here. Sorry for you guys. At least you’re not at HOS…
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[QUOTE=bcoogan23;155593]I’ve worked for a couple of the big boys in Fourchon and [B]ECO was by far the worse[/B]. But hey, at least they “never” lay off anybody over there.
My travel pay, 6% 401k match, safety points and big grocery budget is still going strong so I’m happy and the busy season is a month away!
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I thought I smelt your ass on here. Sorry for you guys. [B]At least you’re not at HOS[/B]…[/QUOTE]
How the hell did the Company of Choice get dragged into this?
ECO is by far the worst, but for the guys that work there, at least they’re not at HOS? That makes no sense!
My bad, that was directed at adefineteprodct, he’s my buddy since high school. We have a little inside joke
To cut travel pay, I get that. To announce not making the match days before the match is suppose to be made seems underhanded. This decision had to be made months before. It is not like they didn’t make money last year. To freeze safety points seems putative not a cost saving matter. You want to end it ok, I get that but why not let points earned be spent.
Probably somewhere in the lawyer’s fine print, It says that the 401k match is optional based upon profits. I don’t really care.
When a company promises to pay a match they had better do it. Recruiting and retaining people with the promise of a match, and then saying “tough shit boys, there will be no match for LAST year” just before payment of the match is due, is really in badfaith and a breach of trust. Fine print be damned, that is a little too close theft.
That’s bullshit. If you’re going to stop matching a 401K, you send out an email in November, December letting guys know how to plan for the year ahead. There are plenty of guys who only contribute because YOU said you’d match it. Make no bones about it a 401K match is a ton of money for a company, but that’s such a big expense its factored into their financial plan for the year or YEARS ahead of time. Probably used that money to build a few boats.
You won’t see a ton of guys leave, because where will they go? Lots have burned bridges in other industries, and there doesn’t seem to be a big demand for DPO’s in drilling, never mind the other OSV companies laying off.
They do that firing over bullshit offenses to avoid unemployment. Dirty game.
I don’t see why some lawyer wouldn’t jump all over this considering the money involved, assuming its setup like a normal company and written down somewhere they they’ll contribute? Oh wait, Louisiana!
[QUOTE=tugsailor;155600]Probably somewhere in the lawyer’s fine print, It says that the 401k match is optional based upon profits. I don’t really care.
When a company promises to pay a match they had better do it. Recruiting and retaining people with the promise of a match, and then saying “tough shit boys, there will be no match for LAST year” just before payment of the match is due, is really in badfaith and a breach of trust. Fine print be damned, that is a little too close theft.[/QUOTE]
Of course you are right. Anyone that has any idea about good faith or trust in the OSV industry is delusional. I imagine they had some choices to make the first being profitability and the “family” .Retaining people is the least of their worries right now and recruiting when the business picks up is no concern either as the bar is pretty low for entry onto the OSV labor market, by design. When a company cuts travel pay it means they have a ton of bodies available to do the work so no need to pay travel, when they cut the 401k match it means the same thing plus they want to keep making the same amount of money [greedy] OR they are in financial trouble. Maybe they are in deep financial trouble and deserve everyone’s sympathy.
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[QUOTE=c.captain;155591]you know, I can just imagine how gut wrenching this decision was for the family to make realizing how they stand to lose a major part of their workforce over this. The though of their people all fleeing in droves from anything with orange paint on it and leaving the company an empty hollow shell with new boats tied up to docks without crews to man them. THE HORROR! But if they tell them how really, really sorry they are the always loyal employees will not rise and march…after all y’all are just one big family all with the same color blood, but that might not fly because all their mariners have so many other places that they can go work at. The whole thing may still explode yet!
my God…how I pity the poor, poor Chouest family right now tonight. Their world must be coming down around their ears.[/QUOTE]
While c.captain can be abrasive at times, he often has a valid point. I am sure the Chouest family won’t be suffering as much as the employees. For all of you that claim you are a big, tough guy and don’t work for JOE BOSS, WAKE THE F*#K UP!!! In fact we all work for somebody. Even c.captain has people that he works for. You just need to realize whose pockets you are lining.
I have been with ECO for 15 years & I always had my check on time. I have seen some good times & bad times.
I don’t like that I lost my 401 (k) match & I don’t like losing my safety awards, but in the grand scheme of things I am glad I did not get a pay cut. I am happy to have a job.
So if your that un-happy by all means leave and go somewhere else, I am sure the people that do not have a job would take your place in a heartbeat.
I know I will probably get ridiculed by the keyboard commandoes on here for my statement, but I stand by it.
[QUOTE=workboatclass89;155557]The Chouest Family announced today that they were not going to make the annual company match to ALL their employees 401K plan, Cut travel pay out, & Eliminated the safety points program. As stated in a very poorly & unprofessional letter sent out via e-mail today.[I][B]“We regret to inform you amid one of the most difficult economic downturns in the oil and gas industry that our company has ever faced, we will not make the company match for the 2014 plan year. Be certain that this decision came after careful thought and consideration. Chouest family” [/B][/I]
I must be missing something, 2014 was a great year for all vessel operators in the GOM, including the Chouest Family. The construction on C-Port 3 continues, They purchased a luxury yacht construction company in the north west, Numerous new builds were delivered, The recent purchase of Bollinger Shipyards, A new corporate Jet, Dionne Chouest building a multi million dollar home in Galliano.
[B] Looks to me like the employees get the shaft just so the rich folks can keep up that luxurious lifestyle, JUST SAYIN!!![/B][/QUOTE]
Your quotations around the letter content were obviously placed there on purpose.
While I have no doubt that some form of cuts at ECO are happening, is the place so uneducated that they really wrote in 2014 when they meant 2015? Do they not proofread their own mass emails before hitting the send button? Does their “plan year” somehow lag real time? Do they contribute the whole 401(K) company match at the end of the calendar year? Never worked there, so I do my best not to make assumptions about their payroll processes.
Or did the OP mistype?
[QUOTE=beekerbetter;155598]To cut travel pay, I get that. To announce not making the match days before the match is suppose to be made seems underhanded. This decision had to be made months before. It is not like they didn’t make money last year. To freeze safety points seems putative not a cost saving matter. You want to end it ok, I get that but why not let points earned be spent.[/QUOTE]
If we all take a deep breath we can look at the big picture here. In my opinion, these cuts from the biggest OSV company says that they see the downturn lasting longer then everyone anticipated. It is pretty obvious the supply of OSV’s and crews to man them is huge right now. Chouest is betting that is not going to change for a while. My guess is that they can see farther into the future than I can.
The law of supply and demand still applies to the labor market. We have to take the good with the bad, and we had it good for quite a while lately. The question is,has the management at Chouest been a good partner. Chouest does deserve some criticism for not communicating the state of the market. Three months ago a crew member asked our division manager how the price of oil was effecting the company. He completely blew the question off and said he did not care what the price of oil was. Chouest is good at a lot of things, but communications is terrible. Nepotism seems to run rampant in the office. This breeds incompetence on a lot of levels. After working in two different divisions, I can see that their is a huge disparity in competence levels and attitudes regarding the boat crews. I think a lot of the attitude problems are due to the lack of locals on the boats anymore. It seems like there are fewer and fewer local people on the boats now. It is easier to treat people like crap when you don’t know them.
I think a lot of the frustration exhibited here is due to the lack of communication from the management at Chouest.
I’m not giving them credit for seeing into the future. If they were so good at that then they wouldn’t have been building and buying as much as they had. Yes having a job is grand and all, it’s the underhanded manner in which all this took place that is upsetting. This is the forum to come and complain without fear of retribution form “Joe Boss”. So I’m here to vent that’s all.