Death Inc

Just taking this from another thread so it doesn't derail.

NOTE - This is my OBSERVATION - not my company's stance (Yes I work for Bechtel)


The CFMEU in Gladstone has started protesting that they need better conditions to work on the LNG Project.

They want;
-3/1 roster over the current 4/1 roster. This will help family time and ease pressure on social aspects of the job
- 13% pay increase. Money fixes everything

Public's opinion
- they should STFU and go back to work as the average pay on site is quite large.
IE a worker could be on $100 to $150k P/A depending on what they are doing / skillset. Thus a 13% pay increase is $10,000 to $30,000 for some staff PLUS
- a 3/1 roster is 21 days away from home, you will still miss TWENTY ONE DAYS. You will miss social functions regardless of roster if its 4/1 or 3/1. IE Military is longer or worse. And 21 days will still see marriages break down, kids birthdays get missed and staff not see functions, etc. It will still impact socially.

Bechtels Stance
- Give them 13% pay increase
- give them a 3/1 roster later in the project. This is due to the current workload and construction times / scheduling is based on a 4/1 and a 3/1 will be detrimental. They agreed to a 3/1 further down the track.

So whats happened so far. CFMEU think its bullshit and want change now and have;
-protested
-picketed
- smashed a car
- abused people (my wife included)
- police called in wasting their resources for the public safety

This has gone to vote 2 time now and goes to a vote for a third time this week. So far, each time it goes to vote, Bechtel dishes up the same EBA, Public say they should accept it as its better than what any normal Joe gets. CFMEU and others who support them say its bullshit and want more.

Bechtel is getting tired of it, as they have been in AUS for a long time and I think this will now become their last stay and then move. AUS will sink if this happens and the unions dont seem to mind as they are screaming that the yanks should go home. If they leave, along goes some of our projects, and my job along with many others.

Voting is the last one and will be interesting to see what happens. In short, people seem greedy for something they doesnt look like it will fix a problem properly. Money and Time will not fix it, companies and general public agree and yet unions disagree. No one is budging.

Discuss, will come back and edit more - but 5pm here.

Unions are a joke these days. All i ever hear is "the union fought for your rights and got you this and that, your a scab if you don't join" blah blah blah....... That was the old union generations ago that did that lol, unions today are just a piss weak gang of muppets that think they can ride on the success of what the old unions gave every working aussie and set the benchmark for fairwork. They do fuck all but cause shit today. I say no more im just getting myself angry.

I guarantee you half of the CFMEU members didn't want it to go this way. The CFMEU itself wants this fight the way it is, they get the members hyped up do cause shit...

Edit: They knew exactly what they were getting into when signing up to work for Betchel, everything is planned around that 4-1. Sooking about families breaking apart and personal shit going on is a sign to leave the company if you are unhappy with the conditions they offer.

So people sign up to kinda crappy work roster, because they get paid shitloads. Then cry and want more money and less work? I'm on the wrong side of the construction industry.

Unions are good when they're actually improving safety etc. but bully tactics to get well paid people more money is bullshit.

THey should just sack all the CFMEU guys, there are so many people out there screaming for work and these guys dont want the work they have

The unions contributed to the demise of the car industry with the employee conditions.(In my mostle ignorant opinion) A friend of mine is a mine manager for BHP and regularly negotiates with the CFMEU, and he thought the conditions the guys at Holden had were outrageous. He has had strikes in his mine because there was a typo on one of the union guys payslip, and another strike because the inground heating in the shower room wasn't working.
You only need to look at the work conditions in Asia to see why unions are needed. Unscrupulous business owners and government officials will take advantage of the underprivileged, until the workers realize that they have the power if they stand together. It is a massive step that takes a lot of guts, and I have a lot of respect for the guys who started the unions. Having said that, I think in a lot of ways their time has passed in Australia. Workers rights are protected by a combination of fair work legislation, ombudsmen and the media.
As for these idiots Syk is talking about, I agree with Crypto. They are acting like spoiled brats.

Side note, what does the 3/1 actually mean? It made sense to me until you said 21 days. Is it FIFO, 21 days on site, then 7 days at home? If so then suck it up princess. I spent 6 years in commercial kitchens working every weekend and missing every social event, and you know what I did? Numbed my misery with good times with people who worked the same hours as me.

Yes. The 3/1 means 21 days or three weeks on site and 7 days / 1 week off site.

Fifo dido rolls.

Sorry on iPhone.