This article is nonsense. Centerlines New York harbor SIU members got screwed 3 years ago and had there wages put back to what they were making in 2017 and still are today claiming they were broke. Then getting all the bouchard units as nonunion and currently hiring guys at 12% higher wage and put them on union inland boats making the wages inland should be. Not to mention the offshore tankerman are severely underpaid. Should print this article out and leave in the head to wipe with
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Theyre bullshit artists id say 80% salary 20% management
Is Centerline NY still union?
Haha! You said it, Utopian I guess.
Ive been out of the tugboat game for 5 years now. I work for a red painted NYC based company and a small mom & pop company. Neither were too interested in comforts.
I thought the big oil transport companies like Reinauer, Kirby, and Moran ATBs were fairly comfortable to be on, but I have no first hand knowledge.
Some boats are, some aren’t.
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New york inland is
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Haha! Wrong!!!
Cope and seethe.
Aww 
Pay, benefits, work schedule, equipment is not what makes a person want to get out and stay out…it is just one simple factor which is summarized in a single word which is…
RESPECT or more correctly lack of it.
In almost half a century of working in the maritime industry, I never onçe worked for a single company who respected their mariners as professionals who brought value to their operation and were not afraid to show it. Some were better that others for sure but that lack of respect always underlined the relationship.
To me, it is that complete belief by vessel owners that those who run their assets and earn their income are just trash who can be replaced if needed at anytime which killed our industry.
One must truly wonder how much different things are for those who fly for the airlines?
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I’m sure the CEOs feel the same way about pilots as the boat companies feel about those of us on the boats.
They just have better unions and also realize that it’s in their best interest to retain their best talent, and good pilot making top wages is cheaper than a bad one being paid cheaply.
For a long time though for boat companies they always had a stack of well qualified applications for any position they could pull from. Those days are over, especially with the segmentations caused by towing endorsements and DPO certifications and having to keep regency on both every 5 years.
Don’t forget that the hawspiper for anything above 200gt is essentially dead. You want a 1600/3000? Your taking the same classes and an unlimited license.
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The comparison is irrelevant. I know a few airline pilots and they grumble about the same management is assholes stuff as sailor. The difference is they generally work at MOST 9 days a month (many sleep in their own bed) and make 400-500k (or MORE if they want to) a year relatively stress free. Even new hire first officers are 100-200k a year. Money, easy work, and quality of life can easily offset the “lack of respect” for most men.
All the training paid, and I don’t mean paid for, I mean they get full pay for training. They have profit sharing, insane long-term-disability insurance if they lose their medical. They are generally respected by society and have office workers hand them a packet with their flight plan and they get in the plane and fly. If it’s broken, they call somebody. If they time out or are sick, they call and the company deals with it. They sit in a hotel because the company screwed up??? They get paid.
The ONLY advantage a sailor has vs airline pilot is that our unions are national seniority and seniority isn’t tied to a company. We can hop from company to company.
Going to sea and not to the air was probably the biggest mistake I made in my professional career–I could’ve easily gone either industry.
With that said, I tell young lads to exploit this shithole industry the most you can by using it as a really high paying gig-work. Work enough to progress license, get benefits and pay, and enjoy 6-8 months of vacation a year. Because every other aspect of going to sea sucks as–and the pay doesn’t offset the suckage (especially for engineers destroying their bodies).
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Very wise advise. The only other advise I’d offer is work as much as your family life will tolerate because the lean times WILL come. Save your money have a years salary in savings, after that invest. If you have money in the bank you can enjoy the time off, if not…well