To me one of the Biggest Plusses to both Members and Companies is One Pay for One Job. Everyone wants to make more than the next guy but they all seem to forget that when, Let’s say CE’s all make the same in the Company and Same License / Vessel Type, this way there is no reason for the company to decide to cut cost by letting go the senior people. Now, before anyone say but wait I have been here for xxxx years so I deserve more, well that could be made up by vacation pay. Example, the longer you work for one company the more days you get which equals more pay. This also levels the playing ground for companies that compete for the same work as their crew costs are the same.
This is how NY Harbor was for many years until the greed of the companies lead to a race to the bottom. I know for a fact that more than one Company Owner has said (In Private to their peers) that the 333 strike did a lot more damage and hurt their bottom line than they ever thought. They all got into bidding wars which drove rates down for a long time.
That would not be MEBA full contract MLL or Matson C-9. 1A/E with OT for MLL MEBA is very close to $30k per month x 6mos/yr.[/QUOTE]
You are absolutely correct, my mistake. After re-reading my post, I realized I was low and went back in and made the following edit (below). And as I read it now I realize I kinda messed up on the ECO comparison. They’d be at about $160k for 6 months, so a MEBA 1 A/E would be making more.
Ya know I wasn’t even drinking when I placed that f’d up post but…I am drinking now while trying to fix it. Hopefully I didn’t f up worse;)
Obviously the dynamics on every ship is different. On this particular Matson ship the 1st had been there a number of years, was very well thought of, coulda sailed as Chief if he desired it and I’m guessin he’s on the higher end of the curve you quoted. Bottom line is they (MEBA engineers on container ships) make good money, work 6 months a year, really seem to like their job and jobs like that are definitely out there.
“I work on container ships (not engineer) and that sounds a bit low. Are their some container ship MEBA 1 A/E making $150k? Probably but on my last ship it was known that the 1 A/E made the most on the ship, more than the Chief and more than the Master. Probably about the same as a Chief Eng at ECO or a bit more, for 6 months of work.”
[QUOTE=DeckApe;184529]Unions are a lot like health insurance: you’re always paying into it. Usually it doesn’t do much. But when something happens it can help soften the blow with training or help finding a new job.
However if you’re struck by a fatal and incurable illness you’re still going to die - insurance or no. This downturn, caused by an unexpected fundamental change in Saudi behavior, is the proverbial treatment resistant, highly communicable and fatal disease.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Capt. Phoenix;184533]What’s your issue? $850 per day over 240 days is actually a little more than your quoted salary.
But: ECO went forced equal time, so that doesn’t really apply anymore (though the original guy was inferring 2for 1).[/QUOTE]
My reply was to a post which has since been edited (theirs, not mine).
Simply put: there’s no point in throwing out wages, vessel type, and billet as it is germaine to this thread without as full as a picture as possible. Saying 1A/E makes about $25k a month x 6 mos on container ships is actually quite vague and shouldn’t be put out there. Give the readers: union, company, ship, billet. Saying Matson box boat 1A/E’s make $30k x 6mos is wildly inaccurate as their are 4 ships that are well below that.
AND… no matter how you slice it, $204k for 8 mos work (ECO) compared to $180k for 6 mos (top MMP/MEBA Chief Mate or 1A/E) is apples and oranges. I’ll glady take 2 mos more at home for a $24k pay cut, while still grossing $180k, accruing pension, and getting $5200 IRAP annual contributions.
The GOM would never unionize because the mariners would be too busy cutting each others throats in negotiations. I worked my first 15 years mostly in the oilfield. About half was foreign jobs. I saw several ups and downs but always had work. Conditions varied but continued to go down. The biggest raises I got in the '70s were when the IBU tried to organize us in California, the Teamsters in Alaska and the SIU at Davisville Depot.
[QUOTE=MASSAILOR;184497]Fraqrat, I’m a little late to the forum game here, but you do know that HOS hasn’t matched anything in the 401k since the last pay period of 2014, right? Can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.[/QUOTE]
The difference is that HOS matched every pay period and ECO matched a lump sum after the end of the year, in late January. All HOS could do was say “from this point onward we aren’t going to match 401k contributions” while ECO said “sorry guys, even though we promised you a match for last year we want to keep our yacht in South America operating so we are reneging on the deal and not giving you the 401k match for last year.”