Anyone making good money that is not contributing the maximum to a 401k is a fool that is paying a lot of unnecessary taxes. Somebody like that probably wouldn’t even notice a pay cut.
The taxpayer grant subsidized “free school” is a great benefit for ECO employees. Its not so good for us taxpayers who pay for it, but cannot attend it. Talk about corporate welfare.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;158737]Anyone making good money that is not contributing the maximum to a 401k is a fool that is paying a lot of unnecessary taxes. Somebody like that probably wouldn’t even notice a pay cut.
The taxpayer grant subsidized “free school” is a great benefit for ECO employees. Its not so good for us taxpayers who pay for it, but cannot attend it. Talk about corporate welfare.[/QUOTE]
Yeah until someone fucks it up for them whether it be in house of gummint and they have to count it as a taxable benefit.
I was told that ECO got $$$$ millions of government grants to run the school for its own benefit. A worker retraining grant program intended to alleviate unemployment was converted into pure corporate welfare for ECO. In other words, we taxpayers pay ECO to train its own employees. ECO probably makes a profit on the school while giving its own employees for “free” training.
They even justify paying lower day rates to mariners because they offer us free classes and we save money instead of paying out of pocket. The company I work for now (and love working for) is building a new training center and housing.
[QUOTE=MassCap;158698]The people that complain the most about ECO cutting “perks” that the employees got, are the ones that are use to living off a salary of 242+ days per year, And I mean people that make officer pay 400+/day.
If some can’t live off of 180/year at say 800/day, shame on them. You should be able to live comfortably off half of that.
If you make 500/day working 28/28 that’s still $90k. That’s pretty darn good money and anyone should be able to live comfortably off that.
I have worked for ECO for many years now, and I would gladly not have certain “perks” then loose my job with no pay check.
If your not happy with what they are doing, leave and go someplace else so that someone who wants to work there can.[/QUOTE]
Who are you to tell us what we should be happy making? So we the “little” people should only aim to make enough to “live comfortably?” God forbid we aim higher!
And for the record no I don’t see retirement as a “perk”, I see it as a payoff for years of loyal hard work and i hope employers see it as a way to look after their employees who are the lifeblood of their company profits. I don’t care if Gary makes billions but he makes it on our backs, and I don’t enjoy him robbing our piggy bank causes times are tight, especially when he didn’t sell the G5 first!
The foundation is the most important part of any building, when you forget the little bricks at the bottom the whole castle can fall.
I got my gubmint employer to agree to send me to the gap closing classes. Now I have to get them to agree to pay me base wage. For some reason, they don’t pay relief pool their base wages if they pay for classes. Crew with a permanent assignment do get base wage. I can’t find that distinction anywhere in the union contract or employee handbook.
[QUOTE=cptjdaw;158515] 1. Your pay numbers are grossly overinflated. Captains averaging 987.5 a day on what planet? I don’t think anchor lead guys get that. 880/day? Who but lead captains? You’re trying to pretend that Chouest pays way more than it does I’m not sure why. Average officers are in the 700s somewhere.[/QUOTE]
Why are you arguing his figures when he was being generous to try to come up with your 10% number? (His “average” is including the pay on the Island boats…)
[QUOTE=cptjdaw;158515]2. Regardless of your day rate the math is SUPER simple so I’ll explain it for you. If you take away 2 days pay (by paying half a day travel and half a day on crew change that’s 2 full days a hitch) and a guy works 30 days a hitch then then 2 divided by 30 equals…drumroll .066 percent of pay right there. 6,6 percent plus 3 percent 401k match that is gone is right at 9.6 percent. Now let’s take holiday and safety points away I’ll be generous and call that only .4% of wages. Voila 10 percent reduction in pay!! It doesnt matter what your wage is its still a10% cut. I hope you don’t work in accounting.[/QUOTE]
It’s your numbers that are bullshit. Where are you getting losing 2 days per hitch? IF you got travel pay you received at most $350, which is less than half a day pay for any captain on a supply boat. So instead of getting paid essentially 28.5 days per hitch you are now getting paid 28 days per hitch. How is that 6.6%? (Hint: it’s not. It’s only 1.75%.)
[QUOTE=Capt. Phoenix;158807]Why are you arguing his figures when he was being generous to try to come up with your 10% number? (His “average” is including the pay on the Island boats…)
It’s your numbers that are bullshit. Where are you getting losing 2 days per hitch? IF you got travel pay you received at most $350, which is less than half a day pay for any captain on a supply boat. So instead of getting paid essentially 28.5 days per hitch you are now getting paid 28 days per hitch. How is that 6.6%? (Hint: it’s not. It’s only 1.75%.)[/QUOTE]
I think he must mean overseas division. Overseas devisions did get a 2 day a hitch cut, half day travel now and half day crew change day on both sides. Cptjdaw is right 2/days a hitch isn’t a small amount of money to lose.
Okay, so two days travel going down and two days travel coming back. That means for example… You fly out of Houston at 6pm and make it to Rio 9 am the next morning. So you got a half days pay to go to the airport and ride the plane then while you are in Rio the day you get on board you get a half day. …You are still getting a half day like everyone else in the company the day you get on and the day you get off the boat, the only difference is that your ticket there is paid for and you are getting a half days pay to do it. Same thing coming back. You get your half day getting off the boat like everyone else. And you are getting paid airfare and another half days pay to ride the plane back home. I know, I worked overseas for 11 years. If you are on one of the little boats you are making $900 a day and getting paid $450 to ride the plane. If you are working on the larger boats you are getting more than that. If you dont like being paid $450 plus a day to ride the plane down and another $450 plus a day to ride the plane back, then call Alan and come back to the gulf and get 2 more days per hitch at home. You chose to work overseas and you know that means 2 days extra travel.
The normal way that most US employers in any industry operate is that they pay full wages and all travel expenses door to door.
Over the last 40 years, about one third of my employers have paid door to door wages with all travel expense paid. Good companies. Various other companies chisel and nickel and dime mariners on various things. This saves them pennies, but generates much higher turnover and thousands of dollars in ill will. I have worked for a few that only paid partial travel, but years ago, and very very few that did not pay any travel, again years ago.
Only about 20 percent of my past employers would steal half a day’s pay from mariners on crew change day. I’ve only seen that once in recent years. Scumbags.
[QUOTE=Nautical Wheeler;158829]Okay, so two days travel going down and two days travel coming back. That means for example… You fly out of Houston at 6pm and make it to Rio 9 am the next morning. So you got a half days pay to go to the airport and ride the plane then while you are in Rio the day you get on board you get a half day. …You are still getting a half day like everyone else in the company the day you get on and the day you get off the boat, the only difference is that your ticket there is paid for and you are getting a half days pay to do it. Same thing coming back. You get your half day getting off the boat like everyone else. And you are getting paid airfare and another half days pay to ride the plane back home. I know, I worked overseas for 11 years. If you are on one of the little boats you are making $900 a day and getting paid $450 to ride the plane. If you are working on the larger boats you are getting more than that. If you dont like being paid $450 plus a day to ride the plane down and another $450 plus a day to ride the plane back, then call Alan and come back to the gulf and get 2 more days per hitch at home. You chose to work overseas and you know that means 2 days extra travel.[/QUOTE]
How long have you been a manager Nauticalwheeler? I think you missed the point of the original post which is that there has been a 10% pay cut without so much as a heads up from management. Now you’re telling Employees to be happy with what they get. Pay cuts happen but they shouldn’t be underhanded and disguised as if they’re not occurring. But keep telling us were so lucky to have jobs and making more than we deserve, it will really solidify loyalty. Industry standard is door to door for overseas work, and no one but Chouest does half day crew change garbage.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;158830]The normal way that most US employers in any industry operate is that they pay full wages and all travel expenses door to door.
Over the last 40 years, about one third of my employers have paid door to door wages with all travel expense paid. Good companies. Various other companies chisel and nickel and dime mariners on various things. This saves them pennies, but generates much higher turnover and thousands of dollars in ill will. I have worked for a few that only paid partial travel, but years ago, and very very few that did not pay any travel, again years ago.
Only about 20 percent of my past employers would steal half a day’s pay from mariners on crew change day. I’ve only seen that once in recent years. Scumbags.[/QUOTE]
One way they nickel and dime us, and unfortunately I nibble on the shit sandwich too, is when you work on a steady crew on a steady rotation. If your crewchanging every week or every 2 weeks you’re either getting a 1/2 day if you come on/get off at noon, or a full day if you come on/get off at midnight. I know of nobody that will pay a full day plus travel to crewchange on that frequent of a basis. If they call up and send you way the hell out of town with a full day of travelling on a short notice then it happens but no way for our 2/2 crewchange. Maybe there are some company men from the 333 strike but nobody I know gets that deal. The trade-off is crewchange is generally pretty consistent and we don’t get stuck onboard for more than 12 hours except for extreme cases…at that point you’re paid the hours actually worked.
Consistent crew change is a beautiful thing. Ive always overlooked the half day’s pay if i know the office does its best to make sure we are off the boat at noon on crew change day.
When I worked for Mac Ny the 1st cost cutting move was a day coming & going. The captains who worked 2/1 didn’t bitch but equal time guys got hit hard. Then it was cabs & bags they didn’t pay for.
[QUOTE=z-drive;158842]One way they nickel and dime us, and unfortunately I nibble on the shit sandwich too, is when you work on a steady crew on a steady rotation. If your crewchanging every week or every 2 weeks you’re either getting a 1/2 day if you come on/get off at noon, or a full day if you come on/get off at midnight. I know of nobody that will pay a full day plus travel to crewchange on that frequent of a basis. If they call up and send you way the hell out of town with a full day of travelling on a short notice then it happens but no way for our 2/2 crewchange. Maybe there are some company men from the 333 strike but nobody I know gets that deal. The trade-off is crewchange is generally pretty consistent and we don’t get stuck onboard for more than 12 hours except for extreme cases…at that point you’re paid the hours actually worked.[/QUOTE]
So you work 14/14, but are paid for 13 with 15 unpaid day out of every 28 day period. That is a definite shortcoming of 14/14.
You still get paid 14 days.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;158875]So you work 14/14, but are paid for 13 with 15 unpaid day out of every 28 day period. That is a definite shortcoming of 14/14.[/QUOTE]
I get paid 14 days for 14 days worked. Same if i did 7/7, 21/21. Not a big deal if I’m only spending on average 3-4 hours a hitch traveling. Seeing as how most people lose an hour+ or so every day commuting its not that bad of a deal.
Assuming its a noontime crewchange, you get a half day for one 6 hour watch between noon and midnight, 13 full days in between, and another half day for one 6 hour watch between midnight and noon=14 days paid for 14 days worked. If you do midnight crewchanges, you don’t get paid past midnight assuming you get off the boat by midnight, same as you get a full day the first full day you’re on the boat. If you get off after your designated time a good company will usually pro-rate it to a half day or full day depending how long you’re stuck there.
Not everyone has a similar deal but that’s the tradeoff I make for a lower day rate.
Some companies also do u get a full days pay on crew change day coming in but nothing on the crew change day going home. Usually they change crew at midnight. But not all boats change crew at midnight. The times vary from boat to boat.
[QUOTE=z-drive;158878]I get paid 14 days for 14 days worked. Same if i did 7/7, 21/21. Not a big deal if I’m only spending on average 3-4 hours a hitch traveling.
Assuming its a noontime crewchange, you get a half day for one 6 hour watch between noon and midnight, 13 full days in between, and another half day for one 6 hour watch between midnight and noon=14 days paid for 14 days worked.[/QUOTE]
So, you get paid for 14 days, but actually spend 15 days on the boat (12 hours after around noon the day you come on, and 12 hours until around noon on the day you get off, and then have 13 unpaid days off, plus two unpaid half days spent traveling to and from. I wouldn’t like that, if I’m confined to the boat for 12 hours, and responsible for whatever happens on the boat for 12 hours, I sure as hell want to be paid for a full day. But given your excellent day rate, I can see where that more than makes up for it. I can also see where the 14/14 schedule would be worth it for some people.
It takes me less then 30 mins to get to work. I still have time to make breakfast for my kids, drop one off at school and hit the gym. But not every has it like that. Most companies that i worked for in the NE work that way.