That’s good, and those wages they are offering now are awesome for a harbor job. They are paying more than another SIU company I know in so cal.
Since they give you a food allowance and everyone shops for themselves it seems like, that to me says they prefer local guys.
The fact that most boats are 7/7 (and for Houston boats, up from 4/4 during the pandemic) and the company doesn’t pay travel also says local is the preference. It was a real issue for some of the guys driving in from other parts of Texas when gas was $4/gallon and inflation 8+ percent. It doesn’t make a lot of sense when so many other tug companies treat the labor market as if it is national (it is) with 14/14 schedules and paid travel. All that said, good for the mariners who stuck it out! The company could have kept most of the rest of us for half that pay increase a year ago. 
Philly pays less, Baltimore, Norfolk, all pays less. Our deckhand here gets his happy ass on a plane from Jacksonville and comes to NY, other one is from Houston. OS pay is 250, AB is 350, have him apply to Mac in NY.
G+H is only paying more because they where hemorraging guys, there was supposed to be quite a few more guys coming to work here after the holidays and they saw it coming, only reason they jumped it.
Oh, it’s even more shortsighted and unrealistic than that. Yes, the company was hemorrhaging employees. I imagine this will stop that, temporarily.
However, when the acting president made his victory lap, hours after the union made their rounds letting us know, looking for his pat on the back, he let slip a few things that have been resonating and have since distilled in my head.
First, he sees himself some sort of hero for the mariners and Jones act. He thinks this will save not just G&H, but the maritime industry as a whole. He thinks this move will force everyone else to increase their wages, including offshore, and thus draw in the next generation of mariners.
Second, and this one has truly made me realize the intention. He mentioned competitors having to come up on wages to stay competitive or go under. Knowing that his company, one of the two who’s names are actually on the boat, was fiercely trying to buy a couple other companies before, made me realize this isn’t about us, or for us. This is a strong armed tactic to try and drive market value down and increase possibility of absorbing a competitor(s).
While there has been some notable removal of key players in the management to hopefully improve upon the company’s disfunction, there still sits many others in place that ought to go. Unfortunately, that takes more effort than an owner truly wants to put in. He’s ready to “improve” and be able to wash his hands of it and sit back in the profits again.
All in all, while this was a necessary move and the mariners will enjoy the raise, I unfortunately don’t believe this will do anything to actually improving the company, let alone the industry perception of G&H. While it will put asses in seats, it will not be long term, and I suspect many will run back to where they came from when former employers increase their wages due to poor management here.
But hey, if arguing over ordering a mooring line is worth $740 a day to you, come on, we can bitch about it together.
The good thing about those new wages is they will help with covering your own medical till the SIU benefits kick in.
Hopefully they are forthcoming with the fact that an even time schedule will take 6 months roughly to qualify for the union insurance. That’s not factoring in waiting for the union to get their shit together after the 6 months are up.
Maybe there are some similarities to other recently discussed poorly managed companies that need to raise wages, but are pretending they do not need to.
Well when you can get paid more to sit in cell service working 7/7 than you would be paid to run around the middle east for 120 days, I can see his point. Unfortunately, Just like we can’t find mates with PICs, I do wonder how many folks with TOARs you’ll see rolling up.
I however enjoy some of the perks the big ships offer, like the company buying my food directly, and then paying someone to cook it. Also having someone drive my car back to their car rubbed me the wrong way, but maybe I’m just a snowflake who can’t drive stick.
Given what things cost now, the price of fuel, that tug companies are making more money than ever, and that there is no longer a great surplus of Master of Towing licenses, we should be getting $1000 a day on tugs.
What is Vane paying. I’ve always heard that it was good for Baltimore, but quite low for New York. No travel.
Great that they pay Overtime .
Four man crews are bullshit. The USCG is in the owners pockets and complicit in under manning and forcing routine violations of the 12 hour rule.
I don’t know the pay for Vane but the guy I referenced above in regard to Norfolk has contacted them. They are primarily offering positions only in NY and Philly and for whatever reason Baltimore is down to only one day boat (with a wait list) so isn’t really hiring (at least for OS deckhands).
New York Harbor still needs people in all ratings. Centerline is expanding with some new boats which always creates a power vacuum.
Rose Cay is growing into the old Bouchard equipment they bought.
Stasinos has moved into town and has been keeping their boats busy.
Vane actually had one of their captains make a you tube solicitation for officers.
CMT was so desperate they tried the old mate training program. It failed, just like Reinauers.
I don’t know anything about Haughland Group except that I now see their boat all the time.
Lastly a heavy construction company called Posillico just bought Breakwater Marine with designs on using their tugs on jobs. Posillico is also desperate for people which has actually limited their bidding on jobs.
Did they say what they’re paying their officers?
That’s what comes from not training their guys up, not having a training program at all for people to advance and promoting loyal crew members from within.
I was an AB there for a few years, already had my license but wanted to move up, saw some fresh academy kids getting spots that I would have loved to have.
Regardless I was willing to stick it out because I liked the work. Kept getting the carrot on the stick from management unfortunately.
I was told once I got my towing endorsement they would promote me to train as Mate, which I did and well, they didn’t.
I’ve since moved on to greener pastures but…
My advice to Vane is mint your own officers and raise pay, add a sign on bonus and bring back some semblance of a training scheme especially for AB’s holding licenses which could be assigned a mentor to get some stick time.
Could also contact the people who left the company because they weren’t given the opportunity to advance and maybe you’ll have some luck if the money is right, which I doubt since they’re making YouTube videos begging people to apply.
Vane is a good company. Equipment is newer, maintained well. Most boats have directtv and they got a good food budget. If you work extra you get a day and a half incentive. My region, OT was frowned upon and shut down because a few folks abused it…but maybe they’ve lightened up again on it now. Wages have come up because they’ve had one helluva suitcase parade last year. Benefits are just ok, and expensive. I’d say for their wire boat fleet, engineers, Capts and mates are doing ok. At least average instead of on the bottom of the spectrum like they were before. Not sure about ABs, OS and tankerman. Tankermen were definitely underpaid, but a tankerman there is just a tankerman usually-no deck duties.
I only left because I was burned out on my boat and crew. Time for a change, and although they are big, a transfer for me wasn’t expedited in a serious manner so I left for greener pastures.
Yeah I heard promotion sucks at Vane but it is otherwise a good place. Would they at least pay for Tankerman PIC training?
They paid for NO training, upgrades or renewals when I was there…but maybe that’s changed since.
Vane pay is up 8% from Jan 1, they also decided to eat more of the insurance cost, (which cut it in half) for 2023.
Advancement is still an issue. After the suitcase parade Ctony mentioned, they’re short on staff. While the company now pays for tankerman training, the shortage of AB’s makes advancement slow. Mate training happens only at a trickle. The company seems to prefer hiring castoffs fired from every other NY company and give them a few months to dent the equipment and destroy the local piers. The shoreside guy who is in charge of the training program appears to be not well liked, which will be a significant issue in the future
I will try and find the exact video that the solicitation but it will be tough, Tim has so many videos out.
The channel is TimBatSea if anyone is interested. Tim had the Elk River fo awhile. Super nice guy.
When I worked at Bouchard which did not have a training mate program at that partucular time. My career path was explained to me by the port captain. Work here at Bouchard a few years, then take a job at McAllister or some other company with promotion. After you get in the wheel house come back to Bouchard.
Really?
The other really weird thing they did was that on their website the explicitly stated that they preferred to hire academy graduates for their deckhand and AB positions. I thought to myself that must be so they could move into the wheel house quickly, as they all come with AB, STCW and a license of some sort.
The first crewmember I met was an OS they hired off the street. He got juiced in. After taking a look at this guys act, wtf did i go to school for?
Good steps to stem the flow, I saw the hiring of incompetent Mates from outside the company personally and, well felt slighted by management.
Took literally one application to get a Mate position elsewhere.
Hope they can get their act together and train up some of their AB’s, it really wasn’t a terrible company to work for.
I always heard they want you to bust up someone else’s equipment before you can work on theirs.
That company was trash. Great boats though.
