Take a pay cut or not??

[Scott Beveridge]

James there are some companies here in australia that are bringing in ROV personell through the agencies in the UK on half the dayrate the Oz lads are on and guess what I think its only the start as they are getting away with it,and its not hard.But here we go again,guess what its only happening in the ROV industry from what I can see..as usual…

Talk to your tax man dude! They are on this I think…. Then there’s the MUA who just … just… might have a say in it here and there…

[Robert Branch]

Scott you know as well as I do this ROV industry is a little vague…..as to what is going on in the industry……Its not like the companies tell you anything is it…most frustrating to say the least..Anyway at least Im happy I escaped the UK..North sea…

[Robert Branch]

Im not a big union man,but I get the impression the MUA dont seem to give a flying f –k about ROV,but all the other offshore industries they seem to bend over backwards for..A bit strange wouldnt you say…maybe even the MUA dont respect the ROV industry..Wonder why?

[liddelljohn]

Some guys here have said , they dont ever have pays cuts in SEA , that may be true…….. but some companies rates are so LOW they cant cut them any less ,,,,OCEANEERING & Fugro payl below average , Canyon pay OK …some of the other SEA operators have favourites who get great rates whilst other guys on the same team get Jackshit …there are just as much B/S by the companies and dirty little games in SEA as UK .

As to having guys who can fix boards to component level …little good it does you ..on my last job we had an ROV with no spares and dud boards and dud sonar ,told 10 days for spares to arrive and the client screaming for our blood and the guys in the office all panicking for their bonuses .

So on site ….out of boredom and a can do attitude I fixed the damn things , so we only lost 2 days work …did i get any thanks from the client or my bosses at the ROV company …Like Hell i did . we are expendable cannon fodder .

[Scott Beveridge]

Surf,

Hmmmmmmmmmmm… maybe we should respect ourselves first! That would be a good start!!

TO ALL THE NEWBIES, WANNABEES, AND HOPEFULS. If you do come to the ROV industry, do not undercut the pay anymore!!! We’ve really had it up to the neck and beyond with that!

[luckyjim37]

A guy I worked with a few years back was looking at moving to Oz.

For Immigration he could not list himself as an ROV pilot as this was not seen as an industry for the purpose of immigration.

Is this why companies get away with sending cheap labour there as it is not a listed industry?

Or has this now changed?

[Robert Black]

Bear in mind that more often than not, the rates being offered are from the same salty old bards who were once of the same feather, that is; previous supervisors who have since been promoted to being office girls.
It seems they have forgone their flock wouldn’t you say?

Apologies for straying her but as a office girl, I’d like to invite R2D2 to bite me.

[James McLauchlan]

😀

[R2D2]

Howzit K-Ops,
I’m affraid that today I’m toothless. No biting in me at the moment.

This topic has 11 pages dedicated to it until now. Another topic related to work in Australia appears to be a never-ending story.

Frankly, I’m drained by it all.
Folks are pissed off they can’t work anywhere else but in the same breath, they don’t want anyone scratching in their own patch.

As for reduced day-rates. We’re scabs if we accept a ‘reduced day rate’ yet we are eliminated if we expect our just and normal deserves.

A current vacancy posting links to the employer’s on-line application. Now, having stated my remuneration package is normally Euro 634 per day, door to door with over 200 days, do you think I have any chance whatsoever of being considered by the cheap company’s out there?

WHAT IS the acceptable ‘rate???? How does one satisfy the employer AND not piss off all the Non-Scabs?

Folks are going on about Unions. So, where are they? How do we join? What would their small membership fee be and WHAT will they DO for us?

Obviously too many of us are stuck on the beach for far too long and have resorted to becoming armchair commentators on everything from the oil industry, training, wages, youth, races and future.

Being a "specialist" in my own little world and opinion, I think I’m going to take the day off from oil-patch woes and email avery senator, congressman/woman I can and crap on them, about any random thing I can dream up, because I can and nothing will happen, either way.

I can only hope to wake from this bad dream soon and be off to work on some smelly vessel bouncing upon the merry sea and filling my scabby pockets with some useful currency.

Adios, Siabhona, Cheers, sianara

G’nite Granpa.

[Anonymous]

Like any business model when times are tough reduce your overheads that means take a pay cut and keep working.

As for the clowns in here calling guys who take a slightly reduced rate scabs- get a life. Scabs are like the Yorkshire miners who went back to work and crossed the picket lines when their cash ran out and they had mouths to feed.

When times are busy the rates go up when slow down thats the way of the world when your contracting.

To all the guys refusing the accept the reality of basic economics….enjoy your extended time on the beach. To all the others enjoy the work.. 😆

[senior]

👿 I will bite here, I was asked to take a £50 p/d cut when it was still busy 😯 . I think the SCABS are the DESPERATE CLOWNS who have not got the foresight into saving a slush fund for hard times.

I am enjoying my extended time on the beach, due to the work climate, due to my financial diligence, and due to the fact that I ain’t no SCAB who is willing to under cut our brothers. 😉

I work to live and not live to work.

Cheers,

Senior $$

Oh aye, I hope you are enjoying working for less than you deserve (nugget) 😉 😀

[Scott Beveridge]

Senior,

And since then the pay offers have dropped by 100 – 200 pounds!!!!!!!!!!! I mean, WTF????

R2D2,

That Euro rate is about right (for those who know their worth)… USD 850 – 900 is fair and suitable for both the contracted person and contractor.

Guys (like Stallion above) would do to grow some instead of having to work 250 days ++ a year (also putting more guys out of work). I consider a heavy year of 200 days.

[James McLauchlan]

To all the guys refusing the accept the reality of basic economics….enjoy your extended time on the beach. To all the others enjoy the work.. 😆

Basic economics being what? The offshore Oil & Gas industry is in decline?? Offshore companies are struggling? I’m not hearing too much about that.

Extended time on the beach?
In the UK (at least) people should not expect to work after October and before March/April. For many years that was the generally accepted ‘season’ on the Diving and ROV front. On an annual basis the season would fluctuate depending on how buoyant the offshore industry was at the time. There may be similar seasonal periods in say the GOM or Oz?

For some reason these days people seem to think they have a god given right to work all year round in this game and seem somewhat surprised when they have been on the beach for a while. That is probably why we are seeing people looking a little surprised that they have not worked for a few months…

It goes a bit like this:

• February: Oop! I’m running out of money.
• March: The bank calls about your mortgage arrears
• Mid March: The finance company calls about your late car payment.
• Desperation starts to set in
• Late March: A company calls offering you a job for £50.00/day less than you were on last year. Out of desperation you take it.
• April/May – One of the busiest years we’ve known for a while kicks in and you start wondering why you are on such a shit rates compared to the guy next to you who just joined the vessel.
• Result! – You have successfully played into the hands of the employers

What I see happening here are the woes of on-land banking/fiscal screw ups being ported across to the offshore game by operators and agencies under the guise of ‘economic downturn’ – ‘times are tough’ in a bid to push rates down. It’s early in the season in the UK and I feel companies see this as a chance to depress rates for most of the year by taking this approach. You’ll then think they are doing you a favour of they up the rates into the season due to too much work and not enough (experienced) techs around.

Sure, land based employment/industry is an issue right now but do any members on here really feel that 2010 will be a bad year for the offshore industry? I don’t.

The day I start seeing the a swath of oil companies and major offshore contractors closing down through lack of operating cash will be the day that I might start believing that there is a downturn in our industry whereby the companies and agencies could possibly justify trying to squeeze rates down. Whether people accept those rates at the time is another story.

With US Crude around $81/bbl our offshore industry is most certainly alive and well.
It wasn’t that many years back when the oil co’s were happy with the barrel around $40.00 and they were coining it then.

Now we hear bleeding heart stories about how profits are down on 2008/2009 – of course they would be because oil hit $150/bbl at one point and now it’s at a measly $81.00+ !! Poor things.. how are they getting by??

Oil climbed for most of 2009, I’m inclined to feel that oil will trend upwards this year also. Probably looking at over $100/bbl+ by year end.

Say it does exceed $100/bbl – Will we be discussing basic economics having any influence then?

At some point in the next few months oil companies will announce better than expected 2010 Q1 profits (no real surprise there) and yet people on here will still be viewing the offshore game as in decline!

The basics of economics that I see are.. You take a pay cut and others make more money off your back. It’s that simple.

If everyone said no, to taking a cut, what do you think would happen? Nobody would go offshore and nothing would get done?
Jobs would stop until people accepted the cuts?

I prefer not to use some terms I have seen bandied around on here but there are definitely weak links in any system. That is apparent from some of the posts in this thread.

[James McLauchlan]

Of course… when you look at the top of the food chain there are not too many signs of a struggle to survive! 🙄

BP announced a transaction that will deliver a material exploration position in the deepwater offshore Brazil and significantly enhance its position in core strategic areas.

In a broad-ranging deal, BP will pay Devon Energy $7.0 billion in cash for assets in Brazil, Azerbaijan and the US deepwater Gulf of Mexico. These include interests in ten exploration blocks in Brazil, including seven in the prolific Campos basin; a major portfolio of deepwater exploration acreage and prospects in the US Gulf of Mexico; and an interest in the BP-operated Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) development in the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan.

Elsewhere in the oil sector Shell outlined a strategy which it says will increase production by 11% in three years’ time. Upstream production is expected to reach 3.5m barrels by 2012, an 11% increase from current levels, Shell said. Further ahead, the company is assessing more than 35 new projects which should underpin upstream growth to 2020

[Andy Shiers]

You could always change your profession of course 😀

[Author]

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