I appreciate those comments aimed at trying to keep this thread on point. Underlying this thread is a B.S. practice that I’ve only seen in the GOM…the furlough. It’s cruel and dishonest. To save a few bucks on unemployment insurance companies down here send somebody
Home and tell them to wait for a call. While waiting for that call they get no unemployment benefits and get a late start on the job hunt.
They want you to quit to make it hard to draw unemployment. What is a laugh is that if you quit a job all you need is a one day temp job.
You are laid off at the end of that day and now you can get your unemployment. I’ve been laid off a couple of times and they had the decency to do it to my face.
[QUOTE=bshaggnasty;158427]I appreciate those comments aimed at trying to keep this thread on point. Underlying this thread is a B.S. practice that I’ve only seen in the GOM…the furlough. It’s cruel and dishonest. To save a few bucks on unemployment insurance companies down here send somebody
Home and tell them to wait for a call. While waiting for that call they get no unemployment benefits and get a late start on the job hunt.
They want you to quit to make it hard to draw unemployment. What is a laugh is that if you quit a job all you need is a one day temp job.
You are laid off at the end of that day and now you can get your unemployment. I’ve been laid off a couple of times and they had the decency to do it to my face.[/QUOTE]
Call it a furlough, call it whatever, the fact is you’re not working, so how can they get away with not paying unemployment? Is it Louisiana (or whatever state controls this) law? Is it the company that says you’d better not draw unemployment or we won’t call you for work? Is it the mariner who simply knows no better?
Moral of the story: unless the company tells you specifically that they expect to put you back to work at a certain time, don’t believe the hype. My opinion is, if I suspect a company wants me gone, they probably want me gone, and I probably don’t want to work for an outfit like that anyway, so might as well get right on that job search.
Second moral of the story: to many (not all) companies out there, you’re only as valuable as the certification you hold and your availability. If they need a guy in a pinch and you’re there, of course they love you.
You can usually get unemployment for simply having your hours cut below a certain level without being laid off. Depends state by state but that’s how it works in plenty of them.
Of course you are still doing 28-14. Its cheaper for them to fire a bunch of guys and leave a few to work 28-14. Don’t act like they let you keep that schedule because they are taking care of you.
You would be absolutely right if they have fired a pile of people. Only people that they have let go is people that failed the drug tests that they have been amping up, which I am all for. And if there are ECO employees waiting on a call at the house, there are very few. They have been trying really hard to place people the best they can to keep everyone working. I do not flatter myself in believing I have friends in the office, I just do my job to the best of my ability and stay off the radar.
[QUOTE=DirtyRodriguez;158371]Im going to go out in a limb here but I think I speak for the thousands of people that are on G-Capt that have never posted anything-when this site was started it was a very helpful tool for any information if you were involved in the maritime industry. Somehow it’s turned into romper room and ‘Professional Mariner Forum’ is anything but. The constant barrage of childish rhetoric and chest thumping represents the joy people take in anonymity hiding behind some creative handle.
I may be completely off but I don’t think I am. I know G Captain won’t miss me but I certainly will not miss it either …at least it’s current state.[/QUOTE]
“A very helpful tool for any info in the maritime industry” Another posts wrote about negotiating the “best” pay.
My thread started asking a few questions, while not specifically answered I believe useful information was posted. You may not agree, but anyone that might be looking to start work in the GOM can at least have a little idea of the piss-poor practices. If your going to work in the GOM, get the highest day rate you can as the GOM only provides longevity employment to coon-ass folk. While there are few exceptions, the odds are not in your favor. You may get a run of a few yrs. maybe even five. Along those years, you will do work below competence, so should you desire to move onto the “real merchant marine” you will have to go back to school. The GOM industry used to have a niche vessel handling. However since dynamic positioning has come into play, that niche is gone. If you hold a license, does not matter 1600t master or DDE unlimited it won’t be respected. While your duties on paper look great, the reality is to them your nothing more than a rag operator and a corrosion control ( paint brush operator). GOM companies trend today is to hire acedamy grads, because they already have BST, advanced fire,…“joe boss” saves money as otherwise they have to send people to those classes. Then those same people go elsewhere for more money. Instead they get academy grads who will stay until the “joe boss”…Also don’t expect to have your job for 20yrs., only expect 6months to three yrs. Given the turnover rate of the GOM, that is why the pay is also high. It has to be, the companies are expanding and need to “lure” people to those vessels. When it gets slow, the drug tests failures are the first to go, then those that reside out-of-state, then those that reside north of I-10, the last will be the coon-ass. Does not matter if the coon-ass is the most deserving of termination, it takes an act of congress to terminate the coon-ass. A coon-ass can destroy a main engine, won’t get fired. A coon-ass can sink a vessel won’t get fired. A coon-ass can fail a drug test won’t get fired. However the non-coonass can be prudent and tell the company about non-conformities and serious vessel issues, and then get fired.
I know of a lot of guys that are not Coonasses that have been employed longer than I have where I work. The guys I speak of are from Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas, Washington, California, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, New York, Tennessee, Missouri, & Puerto Rico to name the ones I know off the top of my head.
Something interesting I’ve picked up on from the last couple posts. Matt21 says the only people let go so far were the drug test failures. Pwrmariner mentions drug test failures as being those let go first in tough times, and then goes on to say, “A coon-ass can fail a drug test won’t get fired.”
There seems to be an implication here that those who failed drug tests could still keep working at GOM companies, at least while times were good. Is this the case? Or, did the GOM companies decide to do a massive round of drug testing when the downturn hit with a view toward thinning the herd, as it were? Either way it seems a bit shady. In the first case, I’d always understood that, anywhere I worked, if I failed a drug test, I was subject to immediate termination, and my license and credentials would be on the line. I would assume it ought to work the same in the GOM, yes? In the second case, if the companies decided to do a massive drug test sweep, is that really right either? Not really random at that point, and they’d have a real hard time justifying reasonable cause also. But maybe they were making people take a drug test in order to return to work after vacation?
Sorry if it seems like I’m slamming GOM operators, I’m not, but if they really are operating in a shady fashion I think it ought to be known also–that’s an area where this forum can be very useful. But then we should also hear about the good side of GOM operators where it exists.
Personally, everywhere I’ve worked has had shadiness in one form or the other.
I’ve been union and non-union, small/big companies, etc.
YOU GUYS ARE ALL WRONG!!!
TransAtlantic Lines is by far the best company out there.
Best pay, benefits, vessels, schedules, office support, and a great working relationship with MSC.
We should all be so lucky to work there.
[QUOTE=Ctony;158471]Personally, everywhere I’ve worked has had shadiness in one form or the other.
I’ve been union and non-union, small/big companies, etc.[/QUOTE]
Very true. AMO (my union) is certainly notorious for shadiness. A lot of our employment decisions unfortunately comes down to what level of shady we can deal with and whether the compensation is high enough to cover some of the shadiness. Though I have been overall very lucky in that I’ve never been asked/ordered to do anything illegal by any company or captain I’ve ever worked for.
[QUOTE=awulfclark;158474]Very true. AMO (my union) is certainly notorious for shadiness. A lot of our employment decisions unfortunately comes down to what level of shady we can deal with and whether the compensation is high enough to cover some of the shadiness. Though I have been overall very lucky in that I’ve never been asked/ordered to do anything illegal by any company or captain I’ve ever worked for.[/QUOTE]
You are indeed very lucky. I’ve been asked to do illegal/unsafe things and just recently refused such an act. It’s tough to push back because then you get labeled as a problem child, not a team player, etc.
[QUOTE=catherder;158477]You are indeed very lucky. I’ve been asked to do illegal/unsafe things and just recently refused such an act. It’s tough to push back because then you get labeled as a problem child, not a team player, etc.[/QUOTE]
I surely hope this wasn’t while working for the Gubmint! It’s amazing to me that you can be a complete fucktard working for the Gubmint but because you have “tenure” you’re basically untouchable. If anything, folks working at any government level should be held to a higher standard than their counterpart in the private sector. If a private company wants to spend their own money employing a half-wit, that’s their deal, but when it’s government it’s EVERYONE’S money. Sorry, rant over. For now.
[QUOTE=awulfclark;158478]I surely hope this wasn’t while working for the Gubmint! It’s amazing to me that you can be a complete fucktard working for the Gubmint but because you have “tenure” you’re basically untouchable. If anything, folks working at any government level should be held to a higher standard than their counterpart in the private sector. If a private company wants to spend their own money employing a half-wit, that’s their deal, but when it’s government it’s EVERYONE’S money. Sorry, rant over. For now.:D[/QUOTE]
Of course it’s gubmint. It’s frustrating to work with people who violate safety and get away with it repeatedly. I suppose I could vote with my feet, but a 55 year old qmed is not exactly a hot commodity right now. All I can do is look out for my own safety and keep good notes.
[QUOTE=catherder;158480]Of course it’s gubmint. It’s frustrating to work with people who violate safety and get away with it repeatedly. I suppose I could vote with my feet, but a 55 year old qmed is not exactly a hot commodity right now. All I can do is look out for my own safety and keep good notes.[/QUOTE]
Oh hell yeah, document EVERYTHING. Is there anyone you can go to once you amass enough evidence? It surely sounds like if these clowns are allowed to keep going the way they are, someone’s going to get seriously injured or become extremely dead, or they’re going to cost The People a lot of money when something highly expensive breaks.
I’m sure some well-qualified mariners out of work in the GOM right now are probably wondering why they can’t get work and then have to read about this. There, I tied this into the thread topic!
[QUOTE=awulfclark;158481]Oh hell yeah, document EVERYTHING. Is there anyone you can go to once you amass enough evidence? It surely sounds like if these clowns are allowed to keep going the way they are, someone’s going to get seriously injured or become extremely dead, or they’re going to cost The People a lot of money when something highly expensive breaks.
I’m sure some well-qualified mariners out of work in the GOM right now are probably wondering why they can’t get work and then have to read about this. There, I tied this into the thread topic![/QUOTE]
I’m not looking to “amass evidence” so much as cover my ample behind. That’s a good practice anywhere. Get yourself a small notebook for your pocket. Rite in the Rain notebooks are a little spendy but they won’t disintegrate when wet.
Sometimes I use my phone for pictures. Sometimes I take photos of work in progress, electrical connections, order of assembly type stuff.
It also comes in handy when filling out a time sheet.
Cat, I thought you got your 3rd? What gives?
[QUOTE=awulfclark;158468]Something interesting I’ve picked up on from the last couple posts. Matt21 says the only people let go so far were the drug test failures. Pwrmariner mentions drug test failures as being those let go first in tough times, and then goes on to say, “A coon-ass can fail a drug test won’t get fired.”
There seems to be an implication here that those who failed drug tests could still keep working at GOM companies, at least while times were good. Is this the case? Or, did the GOM companies decide to do a massive round of drug testing when the downturn hit with a view toward thinning the herd, as it were? Either way it seems a bit shady. In the first case, I’d always understood that, anywhere I worked, if I failed a drug test, I was subject to immediate termination, and my license and credentials would be on the line. I would assume it ought to work the same in the GOM, yes? In the second case, if the companies decided to do a massive drug test sweep, is that really right either? Not really random at that point, and they’d have a real hard time justifying reasonable cause also. But maybe they were making people take a drug test in order to return to work after vacation?
Sorry if it seems like I’m slamming GOM operators, I’m not, but if they really are operating in a shady fashion I think it ought to be known also–that’s an area where this forum can be very useful. But then we should also hear about the good side of GOM operators where it exists.[/QUOTE]
That’s all that I have heard of so far. The stepping up in drug testing actually came from a push from a couple of the ECO clients who felt that ECO was not doing enough “randoms” to appease them so ECO started amping them up. Then, and this is just speculation, there was at least one vessel that had a drug issue that involved several crew members. Not long after that, they started the hair follicle sampling. The upbeat in drug testing started before the downturn and the amount of people that got popped probably contributed to more and more testing being carried out. Personally, I could care less how often we get tested, just don’t show up after I just took my morning piss!
[QUOTE=matt21;158518]That’s all that I have heard of so far. The stepping up in drug testing actually came from a push from a couple of the ECO clients who felt that ECO was not doing enough “randoms” to appease them so ECO started amping them up. Then, and this is just speculation, there was at least one vessel that had a drug issue that involved several crew members. Not long after that, they started the hair follicle sampling. The upbeat in drug testing started before the downturn and the amount of people that got popped probably contributed to more and more testing being carried out. Personally, I could care less how often we get tested, just don’t show up after I just took my morning piss![/QUOTE]
Yeah, I could see if random drug tests were picking up potential problems, there might be a need to ramp up the tests. I know the company I work for belongs to a consortium that administers the testing, and for the longest time the rule was 50% of vessels were supposed to be tested in a year–the randomness part came in where it was possible to be selected for testing in consecutive months or not be selected at all for the year. Sometime in the last couple of years or so the Coast Guard dropped the requirement to 25% of vessels being tested in a year because we were all being good little sailors and not failing drug tests.
I suppose employers and clients are free to conduct more frequent tests than is required by law. Hell, the oil industry, at least with respect to chartered/client vessels, tends to require more in general than the law says–I’m thinking back to my days on oil tankers and dealing with vetting inspectors. But that’s a whole 'nother discussion.
I would just be concerned if the companies were doing extra drug testing with a view solely to getting rid of people. But then I suppose I’d be less than pleased if I were laid off and someone who I knew enjoyed his recreational drugs was able to keep working.
I have no problem with drug testing, I say bring it on. I wish they would test more than they do. If they test 100 Captains and 5 get busted, it just makes my job more secure.