# Tug Inflation Raises

**URL:** <https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/tug-inflation-raises/63454>\
**Category:** Professional Mariner Forum\
**Created:** [June 26, 2022, 1:47am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/tug-inflation-raises/63454 "2022-06-26T01:47:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![klausfelix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4bbf92/32.png) [@klausfelix](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/klausfelix)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 4:30pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/tug-inflation-raises/63454/41 "2022-07-21T16:30:24Z")

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I heard Dann Marine is at $750-$775-$805,  
wages fixing come up, mates leaving ship  
assist companies in Ms River to go to E.C.O.

On their Z-Drives working at LNG terminals.  
Not sure what the large Ms River Linehaul  
Towboats are at but sure its closer to $1000  
Than $600.

[First Motion Products](https://www.firstmotionproducts.com/)

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**Author:** ![rhythminblues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85e7bf/32.png) [@rhythminblues](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/rhythminblues)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 10:19pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/tug-inflation-raises/63454/43 "2022-07-22T22:19:16Z")

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July 1 has come and gone. I havent heard any murmurings yet from the Terrace… Anyone have their finger on the pulse?

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**Author:** ![token](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e0b2c6/32.png) [@token](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/token)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 12:21pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/tug-inflation-raises/63454/44 "2022-07-23T12:21:04Z")

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There’s a proposal in the range of 7% raises for 3 years along with longevity fixes. Second mates 3 years with the company will be making 600/day if approved

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**Author:** ![Marooned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Marooned](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Marooned)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 3:46pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/tug-inflation-raises/63454/45 "2022-07-23T15:46:51Z")

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For what company?

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**Author:** ![token](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e0b2c6/32.png) [@token](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/token)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 3:59pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/tug-inflation-raises/63454/46 "2022-07-23T15:59:23Z")

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Sorry, Kirby rtbu side. Full longevity chief mates will be 750/day if this goes through. Second mates would be 650 at full longevity.

I briefly saw what captains are being re tiered at, something like 950 a day

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**Author:** ![tengineer1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@tengineer1](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/tengineer1)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 6:49pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/tug-inflation-raises/63454/47 "2022-07-23T18:49:00Z")

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> [@token](#):
>
> I briefly saw what captains are being re tiered at, something like 950 a day

According to the gurus that keep up with such things that is an upper middle class income at $160,000/year. If the health insurance is paid for, a pension provided for that is decent pay.

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**Author:** ![token](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e0b2c6/32.png) [@token](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/token)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 8:33pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/tug-inflation-raises/63454/48 "2022-07-23T20:33:01Z")

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Lmao no pension or full insurance coverage. Captains are non union.

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**Author:** ![Gmoney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ee59a6/32.png) [@Gmoney](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Gmoney)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 11:50pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/tug-inflation-raises/63454/49 "2022-07-23T23:50:52Z")

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Sad stuff, People make more running Compact  
Track Loaders if they own it, a hole in the wall  
Mechanic shop charges at least $100 an hour  
and some jobs overlap!

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**Author:** ![tengineer1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@tengineer1](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/tengineer1)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2022, 4:46pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/tug-inflation-raises/63454/50 "2022-07-24T16:46:51Z")

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Might be a good time to buy a tug and go into business for yourself. Do the business plan and see if makes economic sense.

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**Author:** ![Gmoney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ee59a6/32.png) [@Gmoney](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Gmoney)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2022, 10:11pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/tug-inflation-raises/63454/51 "2022-07-24T22:11:37Z")

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With the exception of some well managed  
companies, how did we get to what we have  
Today like in some of the highest turnover  
ever, vessels tied up with no crew to operate  
them, shorthanded crews or excuses instead  
of relief’s on scheduled crew change, asked  
To sail with ongoing No Sail issues, stagnant  
Pay scales related to our economy and a  
volatile wall street where many Americans  
401k’s have taken a beating, but I guess  
on a high note if you wanted to work straight  
time, have insurance & just reach out and  
Touch your family through an IPhone you  
could tap into some lost spending power.

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**Author:** ![Gmoney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ee59a6/32.png) [@Gmoney](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Gmoney)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2022, 2:31am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/tug-inflation-raises/63454/52 "2022-07-25T02:31:47Z")

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Id even go a step further that if the northeastern  
seaboard wasn’t littered with non union boats  
from other regions & has been for years  
that the prevailing wages would be higher  
for crews working the northeast & eastern  
seaboard

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**Author:** ![tugsailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@tugsailor](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/tugsailor)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 3:14pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/tug-inflation-raises/63454/53 "2022-07-26T15:14:18Z")

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One of the best things about working on the West Coast is that it’s too far away for the bayou boat companies to flood the market with underbidding boats and labor from Louisiana.

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**Author:** ![Seattle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Seattle](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Seattle)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 6:10pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/tug-inflation-raises/63454/54 "2022-07-26T18:10:25Z")

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ECO and PWS contract from crowley?

Also the biggest culprit of underbidding boats came from the West coast’s own Harley Marine.

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**Author:** ![tugsailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@tugsailor](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/tugsailor)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 6:39pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/tug-inflation-raises/63454/55 "2022-07-26T18:39:06Z")

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I’d certainly agree that Harley is the closest thing to an underpaying bayou boat company on the West Coast.

We’ll, there are a couple other outfits that may not be any better. What’s that company in LA, American something?

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**Author:** ![Gmoney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ee59a6/32.png) [@Gmoney](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Gmoney)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2022, 12:34am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/tug-inflation-raises/63454/56 "2022-07-27T00:34:57Z")

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Have to wonder if the big 333 strike in the late  
eighties hadn’t happened what would the  
wages be now in the northeast , seems to  
reason they would be much higher, like the  
bar has been lowered since than and many  
non union outfits contributed to making  
that happen, basically diluting payscale  
for everyone.

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**Author:** ![Tugboater203](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/tugboater203/32/14108_2.png) [@Tugboater203](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Tugboater203)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2022, 12:43pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/tug-inflation-raises/63454/57 "2022-07-27T12:43:17Z")

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You’re definitely on to something there. The strike crushed and depressed wages in the NE for decades. Then it got hard to find qualified crew (and it continues to be) so wages started going up again. Not really enough to keep the good ones from jumping to make more elsewhere though.

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**Author:** ![injunear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e95f7d/32.png) [@injunear](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/injunear)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2022, 3:53am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/tug-inflation-raises/63454/58 "2022-07-28T03:53:21Z")

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You got to look at the whole picture. This crap started late '70s when the oilfield was booming. The OSVs were over built. Licensed crew were in such short supply that the CG succumbed to the companies and issued tear-sheet licenses. A towing endorsement wasn’t needed then. When the oilfield cycled down early '80s, it got real shitty. Wages were cut and cooks were the first to go Most of the smaller companies went under. The other companies were cutting each others throats. Some of the bigger companies merged. When the 333 mess started, there was a surplus of tugs and “qualified” seamen to compete with. Neither side would give an inch. I was sailing SIU crewed tugs at the time. This crap curtailed our negotiations for the following 20 years. I’m glad to see the shortage of truly qualified seamen is pushing the wages and bennies back up.

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**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2022, 10:04am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/tug-inflation-raises/63454/59 "2022-07-28T10:04:02Z")

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Looking at the whole picture would have to include government policy shifts at the time.

> In the United States, the “neoliberal transformation” of industrial relations, which considerably diminished the power of [unions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_union) and increased the power of employers,

From [Wikipedia.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism)

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**Author:** ![tengineer1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@tengineer1](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/tengineer1)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2022, 6:15pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/tug-inflation-raises/63454/60 "2022-07-28T18:15:26Z")

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> [@Kennebec\_Captain](#):
>
> Looking at the whole picture would have to include government policy shifts at the time.

I distinctly remember Reagan’s destruction of the ATC union during that time. It was the death of unions for all practical political purposes. Since then inflation adjusted wages have taken a dive but CEO compensation has skyrocketed which is the idea behind neoliberalism. I always thought the term neoliberalism was misleading to many folks who couldn’t be bothered to look up the definition.

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**Author:** ![BargeMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BargeMonkey](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/BargeMonkey)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2022, 4:08am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/tug-inflation-raises/63454/61 "2022-08-12T04:08:15Z")

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I keep waiting to hear about this big strike on the other side of the bridge 🤷‍♂️

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