[QUOTE=c.captain;40887]Certainly proves my belief that you have not received much from your employers and want us to have to suck it up just like you. I’ve worked for my share of cheap assed employers in over 25 years of seafaring and I have often envied those with the cushy high paying jobs, but not once have I wanted those guys to be forced down to my level…rather I have only wanted all the companies in the industry to treat their mariners with respect and provide us with basic benefits for our services to their operations. Blame the companies for not giving enough, not the mariners to having too much![/QUOTE]
I am not blaming anyone. I am just pointing out the whining. Because that is what it is.
[QUOTE=cmakin;40893]I am not blaming anyone. I am just pointing out the whining. Because that is what it is.[/QUOTE]
I really have to wonder how many others would agree with you and how many feel otherwise? I think you’re going to be pretty lonely on your “suffering is good for me” pedistal.
[QUOTE=cmakin;40893]I am not blaming anyone. I am just pointing out the whining. Because that is what it is.[/QUOTE]
In past contract negotiations that I was involved in, transportation was the default turd in the punch bowl. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /><o:p></o:p>
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I used to bring my ham radio gear on foreign runs for the crew to get phone patches and messages home. On the last job, the crews had sat tv in each state room and basic e-mail. This was found to be a huge crew retention tool. On the down side, every time the sat tv system flickered, my phone rang. I’ve learned that whining is an art form.
[QUOTE=c.captain;40894]I really have to wonder how many others would agree with you and how many feel otherwise? I think you’re going to be pretty lonely on your “suffering is good for me” pedistal.
[QUOTE=injunear;40926]In past contract negotiations that I was involved in, transportation was the default turd in the punch bowl. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /><o:p></o:p>
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I used to bring my ham radio gear on foreign runs for the crew to get phone patches and messages home. On the last job, the crews had sat tv in each state room and basic e-mail. This was found to be a huge crew retention tool. On the down side, every time the sat tv system flickered, my phone rang. I’ve learned that whining is an art form.[/QUOTE]
The first ship I sailed on, the PRESIDENT EISENHOWER, in 1978, had a chief mate who was a ham radio operator and often got people hooked up with phone calls home when he could.
I would have to agree with the sentiment of: “Just because you have agreed to some ‘less than opportune’ employment conditions in your career” does NOT mean or imply that we ALL should have to or be forced to accept these same conditions. It may be your view that this is whining, but some talented experienced guys WERE actually working for the company, and HAD the ‘whined about’ benefits, only to have them taken away. THAT is a problem. There will always be some guys with lower standards who will jump over the back of previous employees to grab some $$. But this is about working conditions at an existing company which was bought out, and existing standards have/ will be lowered.
For proof of that look at the scabs who jumped into warm bunks in 1988 in NY. About half these leeches are still around now, and from what I have seen most STILL are just as ignorant and lousy shipmates now as they were then. But if you ask them they feel like they are special, and should be rewarded for stealing jobs away from previous employees!
Wow,
I would like to congratulate you and others here who have secured such high paying and mega perked positions. I do not resent you, on the contrary I hope to one day be where you are, I am positive you all worked very hard for what you have. However I would love to hear more from the actual boat personel on this subject. I work for one of the better companies in the gulf and I promise you our benifits are no where what you have. Getting travel pay?LMAO, we do not get paid until we get to the vessel and pay stops when you leave the vessel, never mind you are driving a company vehicle and transporting other crew members. I commonly haul supplies for free, so do most of us. Internet??? only if you provide it yourself with an air card. Phone? some of us get to make an occasional call on the company dime, but it is iffy. Again, I am not resentful of you, but you should remember how us other half have to live(or work) The marine industry is an unappreciated profession to start with, and the mariners working actually on the vessels, tugs, osv,psv, etc. are at the bottom of the bottom. You make be treated like mushrooms, but we, the boat people have to let all the shit that falls on you build up around us.
[QUOTE=cajuntugster;41056]Wow,
I would like to congratulate you and others here who have secured such high paying and mega perked positions. I do not resent you, on the contrary I hope to one day be where you are, I am positive you all worked very hard for what you have. However I would love to hear more from the actual boat personel on this subject. I work for one of the better companies in the gulf and I promise you our benifits are no where what you have. Getting travel pay?LMAO, we do not get paid until we get to the vessel and pay stops when you leave the vessel, never mind you are driving a company vehicle and transporting other crew members. I commonly haul supplies for free, so do most of us. Internet??? only if you provide it yourself with an air card. Phone? some of us get to make an occasional call on the company dime, but it is iffy. Again, I am not resentful of you, but you should remember how us other half have to live(or work) The marine industry is an unappreciated profession to start with, and the mariners working actually on the vessels, tugs, osv,psv, etc. are at the bottom of the bottom. You make be treated like mushrooms, but we, the boat people have to let all the shit that falls on you build up around us.[/QUOTE]
could your company have the initials OCLLC? If so, I feel your pain! A company where the ruling family is worth many hundreds of millions of $$$ but not a dime for any crew perk or benefit that they can avoid by convincing their people that they are “THE BEST DAMNED COMPANY IN THE WHOLE DAMNED GULF AND THAT EVERY ONE OF THEM IS DAMNED LUCKY TO BE WORKING THERE!” And of course, 99% of these mariners say in return “YOUR DAMNED RIGHT!” and so it goes, forever and ever and ever…
Mr. Tugster…you and every one of your workboat bretheren deserve [I][B][U]everything[/U][/B][/I] that the drilling hands get but the ways of the bayou are very deeply entrenched and change simply does not happen just on its own… This is one of the traits of Noble which has so many Frontier people so unhappy. Noble is just like OCLLC in that they believe that the old way is the only way and thus they are at least a decade behind the other major world drilling contractors in their employment practices.
[QUOTE=c.captain;41058]could your company have the initials OCLLC? If so, I feel your pain! A company where the ruling family is worth many hundreds of millions of $$$ but not a dime for any crew perk or benefit that they can avoid by convincing their people that they are “THE BEST DAMNED COMPANY IN THE WHOLE DAMNED GULF AND THAT EVERY ONE OF THEM IS DAMNED LUCKY TO BE WORKING THERE!” And of course, 99% of these mariners say in return “YOUR DAMNED RIGHT!” and so it goes, forever and ever and ever…
Mr. Tugster…you and every one of your workboat bretheren deserve [I][B][U]everything[/U][/B][/I] that the drilling hands get but the ways of the bayou are very deeply entrenched and change simply does not happen just on its own… This is one of the traits of Noble which has so many Frontier people so unhappy. Noble is just like OCLLC in that they believe that the old way is the only way and thus they are at least a decade behind the other major world drilling contractors in their employment practices.[/QUOTE]
Well, maybe one day. No I do not work for OCLLC but you are dead on how people down here think.“Thankyou sir,(WHACK!!!) may I have another?”
Well, maybe one day. No I do not work for OCLLC but you are dead on how people down here think.“Thankyou sir,(WHACK!!!) may I have another?”
That’s true where ever you go. Unfortunately the only way to to be heard is by speaking with your feet as your walking out the door for a better job. The bad thing is that there are 10 people right now killing to take your spot, so management never hears the message.
Having read all the post and having close dealings with Noble… i wanted to respond.
NO WIFI for Noble Crew only contractors - Shell has not installed Caprock and dont plan to.
Two public Phones that are free. If you work in an office you will have your own line
NO Mail - Noble does not allow USPS mail to be sent to the rig. You can alawya have a deprating crewmember take it for you if you want to send mail… (who does that)
max travel pay 400 EACH WAY not round trip (depends on dist from heliport)
Well, I was considering applying to Noble but without a way to keep in touch and take care of business at home (minimum email and some internet access to pay bills), then I will just have to cross them off my list of companies to consider. Some of us need to take care of business at home while we are offshore. The world is not still in the 1950s and the companies need to realize that fact. My bank will not wait for the check to arrive in the mail like they would have even 10 years ago, now they have internet and expect me to have it too like everyone else does. These backwards companies like Noble will continue to lose good people until they wake up! I used to be able to afford to pay a couple of months of bills before I left to go to work but can not do that any more. Most of us are living paycheck to paycheck just like everyone else. How do these companies expect us to have any life ashore at all if they keep us totally isolated from the world for a month at a time. You can not pay bills efficiently over the phone, you need to use the computer or snail mail!
I wonder what it is going to take for these companies to wake up to the fact that the people working offshore are paying THIER bills (bringing in the income for the company) and deserve to be treated with respect instead of like the ‘oilfield trash’ the office people constantly refer to us as…
Turnover must cost them something…
Two words for Frotier hands “GET OUT” Noble is going to cut pay 30% +/-. And greatly reduce benifits and Bonus stucture. Plus put rig hands communication with the outside world way back to stoneage times. They paint a nice picture while dancing around direct questions with a bunch of blah, blah.Bull. Smile at you while bending you over and saying this is going to be a good move for you. You ask something and they tell you what you want to hear but say they are not sure about it are dont know the details knowing the whole time exactly what it is. What a good company to work for! Might as well be working for Adolf Hitler!
With all due respect. (That means I can say whatever I want right?) Please remind yourself that since you no longer sail you must have decided that at some point the comforts of home were pretty important. Sailors should always have eachother’s backs when it comes to fair pay and standard of living. Don’t forget where you came from.
[QUOTE=oilfieldhoss;41197]Two words for Frotier hands “GET OUT” Noble is going to cut pay 30% +/-. [/QUOTE]
Mine was a 19% cut. I’m just behind where I hired on at with Frontier, but still ahead of where I was at Transocean less than a year ago (although I know they had a raise since then.) The pain comes later when/if we go to the GOM we’ll take anothe 16 to 20% cut. Plus the performance bonus is gone and retention is roughly half. Rig Managers and Asst Rig Managers (they’re name for Rig Supers and Toolpushers) get stock options and something else, but no one else.
A friend of mine told me that none of Nobles DPOs have DP/Drilling experience (only supply boat exp.)on thier rigs in the Gulf , Some have no dp or marine experience because Noble wont hire Sr DPOs. a good place to break in for DP experience.
[QUOTE=cmakin;40762]No internet? Oh, the evil bastards. Can daily flogging be far behind? Only a couple of phones? Again, oh, my. Bread and water next on the menu, I am sure. I have had to shave my mustache off to go offshore in Mexico. I do know that beards interfere with respirators, and it is very common to have to be free of facial hair, not just offshore, but also working in refineries and other petrochemical work places.
But really, how did we survive before we had internet and telephones offshore, or at sea? I remember going to sea and the only time I ever got to call home was when we made port. Even then, it was to expensive to do much more than say “Hi”. When I go offshore now, I see folks calling their house every night, and staying on the phone for hours. It certainly does not help morale to have daily contact, from what I have seen.
And Nobel is being “downright disrespectful”?
Oh, and only $400 bucks to get to the dispatch location? Each way, I bet. If you are paying more than that to get anywhere in the Gulf, you must be taking a limo.
I also bet they are only putting out meals four times a day, too. Or making folks work 12 hour shifts. Why, that is slavery, I tell you.[/QUOTE]
^^^^ I feel you brotha! If I lived in Manvel I’d be pissed at the world too! Maybe you should treat yourself to Alvin for a life upgrade? You guys that are giving my friend here shit for his thoughts need to step up and move to Manvel for a year. This place makes being stuck in the middle of the ocean without phone and internet seem like heaven on earth! If you’re ever in Miami feel free to pm me and I’ll treat you to a good lunch and see if I can help to get you laid. Best wishes amigo!