You could have worked on the ceremonial bell.
Uniblab. I’m also former MSC and feel exactly the same way about it as XMSCCAPT does. If you aren’t bitter about your time there, you weren’t paying attention. I quit after 17 years. I could not take another minute. I was ready to kill. I knew who I was going tostart with, but I wasn’t sure who I was going to end with. That is a VERY bad mindset.
[QUOTE=seadog6608;100377]Uniblab. I’m also former MSC and feel exactly the same way about it as XMSCCAPT does. If you aren’t bitter about your time there, you weren’t paying attention. I quit after 17 years. I could not take another minute. I was ready to kill. I knew who I was going tostart with, but I wasn’t sure who I was going to end with. That is a VERY bad mindset.[/QUOTE]
I have worked here far longer than you did and I am not bitter and I do pay attention. MSC is not the perfect sailing job and it does have plenty of problems, but the same can be said about all sailing jobs. It is also not for everyone. Over the years, it has been good to me much more than it has been bad. If you really felt the way you describe, then MSC is a better place to work now that you are not employed here anymore.
[QUOTE=Xmsccapt(ret);98286]The aggregate pay cap is one issue ( One screwing from msc ), the level IV schedule is the lower rate that msc screws masters and chief engineers is the second screwing. A master and chief eng don’t get paid the rates as advertised on the pay scale for the ships they ride. I know first hand as I lived with it for years. Yes, remained with Msc, and yes it does have good people there and I’ve said as much in other post. I have also said Msc does not deserve the people it has, and I have also stated the office, DC and the rest of the leaches ashore that live off the mariners are the worst part of being with msc.
There was a time Msc did not have a deferred earning plan. You perhaps are ok with it… But not getting paid for your work, not getting war bonus, or even paid subsistence while in a ship yard is not normal for an operation. Getting the deferred earnings dumped into a non interest account is also bullsh&t and should not have been allowed.
Did I enjoy my time with msc? At times yes. I had many good friends there. Deck ape mentioned stability… Given the state of he commercial merchant marine during my time with Msc at least it was steady employment. But, staying with an organization for 30 years does not mean you’re in love with the organization. Today I’d not remain with msc as there are better jobs to be had due to the oil industry now more interested in unlimited licenses.[/QUOTE]
It’s not just problems with pay caps. MSC has other mysterious ways to determine salaries, leave accrual and the capricious application of rules regarding sick leave. Ask just about anyone who has worked here for awhile who comes down with a serious medical condition and he or she will probably relate how they were placed on leave without pay and or received a notification of being AWOL with a threat of termination. It doesn’t matter if you are carrying over 1000 hours of sick leave on the books. You are treated no better than a common criminal.
[QUOTE=Slacker;100512]It’s not just problems with pay caps. MSC has other mysterious ways to determine salaries, leave accrual and the capricious application of rules regarding sick leave. Ask just about anyone who has worked here for awhile who comes down with a serious medical condition and he or she will probably relate how they were placed on leave without pay and or received a notification of being AWOL with a threat of termination. It doesn’t matter if you are carrying over 1000 hours of sick leave on the books. You are treated no better than a common criminal.[/QUOTE]
You know everyone it seems have an issue with the different companies throughout the industry, well lets be serious here… where is the PERFECT company located. I sailed with MSC for many years and during my tenure, there weren’t a lot of Mariners that felt that MSC owed them, the door was always open, you could stay or leave. There are pros and cons in each and every company, I stayed with MSC, no one made me, I was always my own person, my decisions were my own, so let’s be real… either you want to work or you don’t.
[QUOTE=Uniblab;100453]I have worked here far longer than you did and I am not bitter and I do pay attention. MSC is not the perfect sailing job and it does have plenty of problems, but the same can be said about all sailing jobs. It is also not for everyone. Over the years, it has been good to me much more than it has been bad. If you really felt the way you describe, then MSC is a better place to work now that you are not employed here anymore.[/QUOTE]
In its strictest sense, denial is an unconscious process. You don’t generally decide to be in denial about something. But some research suggests that denial might have a conscious component — on some level, you might choose to be in denial.
[QUOTE=DeadQuarters;100550]In its strictest sense, denial is an unconscious process. You don’t generally decide to be in denial about something. But some research suggests that denial might have a conscious component — on some level, you might choose to be in denial.[/QUOTE]
I can’t understand why “not so many” ex-MSC employees try to down the company, I worked there for many years (20+) and there were good days and there were not so good days, but not to the point where I hated it, just the opposit and I would suggest that the complainers refused to follow the policies of the CMPI or either life long whinners. More likely was tossed.
I guess the good news is that I smile each and ever day that I’m gone from MSC. I’d not say bitter, just lessons learned… Now I’m a happy camper and take solitude in not having to deal with the office snakes and the USN. Still, all in all I had ( and still have) good friends there. That fact alone was what made MSC bearable. MSC as an organization does not deserve the people that remain there for a career.
Your view of MSC is directly proportional to what position you sail… 
[QUOTE=seacap@large;100610]I can’t understand why “not so many” ex-MSC employees try to down the company, I worked there for many years (20+) and there were good days and there were not so good days, but not to the point where I hated it, just the opposit and I would suggest that the complainers refused to follow the policies of the CMPI or either life long whinners. More likely was tossed.[/QUOTE]
I posted this before and will post this today. Granted it was in the 70’s when I worked for MSC and for only a few years. Some of the best Merchant Seaman I sailed with were working for MSC. Could times have changed THAT much? Maybe yes, maybe no, perhaps the beauty, or ugliness, is in the eye of the beholder. Bills need to be paid, we need work.
MarAd is the worst of the government lot. Awful, self-righteous nasty people who bicker amongst themselves and jockey for power. They make MSC look like saints and angels.
[QUOTE=seacap@large;100610]I can’t understand why “not so many” ex-MSC employees try to down the company, I worked there for many years (20+) and there were good days and there were not so good days, but not to the point where I hated it, just the opposit and I would suggest that the complainers refused to follow the policies of the CMPI or either life long whinners. More likely was tossed.[/QUOTE]
You must have been wicked high when you wrote this. I don’t get it.
.?? Rather odd statement for sure…
[QUOTE=Sweat-n-Grease;100660]I posted this before and will post this today. Granted it was in the 70’s when I worked for MSC and for only a few years. Some of the best Merchant Seaman I sailed with were working for MSC. Could times have changed THAT much? Maybe yes, maybe no, perhaps the beauty, or ugliness, is in the eye of the beholder. Bills need to be paid, we need work.[/QUOTE]
The ugly truth is that the government is run worse now than in the 70’s. MSC is just our window into that world.
I was so happy when my chief mates offered to stand my duty. They never actually came through on the offer, but it was swell of them.
When I worked at MSC PAC in the eighties there were people in the pool (waiting for assignment to a ship) for years in Oakland. Every time I passed through Building 310 there was one guy dressed like a pimp (I heard he was in the stewards department). I think he paid off the port steward to stay in Oakland and do nothing and get paid for it. At least he was as productive as the rest of those bloodsucking leeches collecting big GS-15 paychecks.
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[QUOTE=Slacker;103008]I was so happy when my chief mates offered to stand my duty. They never actually came through on the offer, but it was swell of them.[/QUOTE]
How ungrateful! You’re indebted to those empty gestures.
Which pimp was that?
[QUOTE=Xmsccapt(ret);103176]Which pimp was that?[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=catherder;103178][/QUOTE]
Another Atlantic Chief Mate quit today. A ten year plus veteran. He’s off to join some drill ship. I’ll bet a dollar not one person in the office offered to sit down with him to discuss the situation and explore some way to at least try and get him to stay. But the good news is we still have plenty of pimps who know a good thing when they see it.
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