Since I've owned a cell phone, I've gone from WorldComm to Cingular to Nextel to Sprint. Sprint and Nextel have by far, had the best service. I have never had a problem not resolved in one phone call. (I only switched from Nextel to Sprint because I needed roaming--yes I realize they have merged.)

WorldComm, on the other hand, took dozens of of 2-hour long phone calls to resolve the problem that someone on their loading docs was stealing my phone and I was getting shipped an empty package. It got so bad that I had to keep a log of who I talked to, at what times, what they said, how long I was put on hold. (The record was 45 minutes. They also didn't have any hold music, the line just went silent.)

Total tangent, but I hated Sprint. Great signal in major cities, nothing anywhere else. In mostly rural KS, that's a problem. I also found their customer service to be crap, but that goes for all cell phone companies. I've been with Alltell, Kansas Cellular, Sprint, and Verizon. Currently with T-Mobile, and by far the happiest. I get more minutes for less, a signal in more places, and the best customer service of the bunch. Too bad my Razr is a total POS.

Mul, I'm sorry your beloved NO workforce is in this hopeless situation. A close associate of mine was intimately involved in discussions with folks there regarding workforce development. I guess it's just the same as any other public policy-making effort in that the view from the folks who are at the table and directly involved in the issues is very different from the guy on the street who gets his information from talk show radio and fills in the blanks with his personal assumptions. The NO situation is not going to be effectively resolved by the local workers there, nor will it be resolved at the prevailing wage rates applicable to that area. If NO were to be rebuilt, which is becoming quite doubtful, it would be rebuilt by travelling workers. Imported labor. Union labor. Sorry if your view is different from the folks that are actually working at the task of trying to get this done.

I know with your communist beliefs you think that only the collective can solve problems. Reality is a little bit different than that. Go explain the wonderment of unions to Detroit. We don't need or want you here.http://www.getsmileyface.com/sm/violent/sterb032.gif

Well as I say, sometimes union folks behave badly. I have heard many stories. I'm not naive. Management acts badly sometimes. Unions act badly sometimes. Humans are like that. And again, I fully believe slo-bob's reports and find this behavior unfortunate.

Interestingly, there are mechanisms that can sidestep much of this. Here on my projects, as I have said, we have a WAY different level of cooperation and support from union reps. They are very much unlike the stories that slo-bob tells here. I am fortunate. But also, we have a labor agreement here that can insulate the owner and the contractor from some of this stuff if necessary. And not just because the agreement mandates that everyone be nice. For example, we have a process by which the employer proposes certain assignments to certain crafts. Unions can then dispute those assignments, and the disputes become disputes BETWEEN labor unions. So....if the electricians and plumbers both lay claim to the same body of work, their battle is with each other. They take this battle to Washington DC for arbitration. In the meantime, the contractor is free to pursue the work using the craft they proposed. In this particular installation, the work would likely be completed before an arbitration decision would impact the contractor. Game over.

So you see, we have our ways.......

I can understand the need for outside labor or even more experienced/costly labor to rebuild NO, but why must they be union Sup?

Because nobody else knows what they're doing.;)

It has something to do with the red star.

Sounds like a real efficient way to get work done. ;)

Mul, I'm sorry your beloved NO workforce is in this hopeless situation. A close associate of mine was intimately involved in discussions with folks there regarding workforce development. I guess it's just the same as any other public policy-making effort in that the view from the folks who are at the table and directly involved in the issues is very different from the guy on the street who gets his information from talk show radio and fills in the blanks with his personal assumptions. The NO situation is not going to be effectively resolved by the local workers there, nor will it be resolved at the prevailing wage rates applicable to that area. If NO were to be rebuilt, which is becoming quite doubtful, it would be rebuilt by travelling workers

The "national" (I assume you mean the International) has nothing to say about it. The pay rate is in the agreement.

And the pay rate has little to do with the cost of installations. The skill of the crew is what determines that. If your crew kicks the union installers' asses, it's because they know what they are doing. Congratulations. Seriously.

Ha! That would be a bargain in Chicago or any other union labor market for that matter. The laborers (which includes broom pushers) make the same (basically) as the carpenters, electricians, plumbers - even as much as the vaunted individual who pushes the button on the elevator!

Here's another update that I have entitled -

Attack of the Fat BA and his Yellow Vest!!! (My apologies to anyone on a diet.)

In today's episode our hero (me :) ) is amazed by the electrician's BA and his Yellow Vest of Despairrrrrrrrrrr-rrr-rrr. After a cunning ploy (promises and handshake agreements) to lull us into complacency, the local did yet another 180 and decided we were unfit to install our medical equipment. To back them up they called in the BA. His ginormous presence was, indeed, intimidating as was his thunderous, spittle flinging, diatribe on solidarity and the little man. We villains ( me again :( ) were asked to leave post haste lest he done his Yellow Vest:eek::eek::eek:! He explained that in enshrouding his girth in said apparel, it would signal the "bretheren" that it was time to take their ball and go home. Unfortunately, I was not in charge. If I had been, my question to him would have been - "Let me get this straight, if you put on that gay vest, all the assh*les that have been making my life miserable and slowing me down will leave?? Is there a catch? Will they still leave if I put on that f**king vest??"

Unfortunately, dear readers, it was not to be. The vendor decided that diplomacy, being the better part of valor, was in order. They agreed (for now) to allow the highly skilled electricians install the equipment. The ironic thing is, they need our guys to supervise the installation because they don't know what the hell they are doing! I was asked to be one of the supervisors. I told them that a man needs to know his limitations. I could not, in clear conscience, be part of this project any longer. I would snap and they would just find chunks of union labor all over the room. Some day, in the distant future, that might actually make me feel bad.

I'm sure there will be more. :rolleyes:

The yellow vested fat man is wise beyond his years for he knoweth that his union hall trained wire nut twisters are vastly more skilled than your measly non union hall blessed scabs.

Maybe you should hit a Wal-Mart and pick up a Chinese made yellow vest to wear to work tomorrow :D ......it might just solve all your problems ;)

I was just thinking that someone should do a hidden camera expose on these unions but then I realized they would kill you. Probably why you've never seen one. :)

I don't think it's that way anymore. They seem like a bunch of puffed up *******s. They were all talk until I would walk in the room. Then they would shut up. I'm sure there are still a few "tough guys", but I think the electrician's union anyway, is a lot of what I experienced - play our way or we'll piss and moan until we leave in a huff. The whole thing is such a shame for so many reasons. The work they fought for is chump change compared to the overall electrical installation. The cost of the electrical installation associated with just our equipment alone is many times greater than the cost of our medical equipment installation, let alone the overall electrical installation which is exponentially greater. The damage they did to will be even far more costly still. I believe they will lose future contracts based on this one issue. You would have to be out of your mind to use them after the cost/time issues they caused on this project.

Based upon what Mule and SLO BOB have talked about here [By the way Mule...you didn't get my point at all did you?], that's not a bad idea.

-My other job: Me and a friend run a small business in Fort Liquordale fixing houses and flipping them over. YES it is still possible to do this, though this past year has been a challenge and I doubt we will show a profit. As to media expose....what about an undercover look at code enforcement officials? These people are about as "straight" as the timing belt on my 928's V8 engine. Which means that they are crooked as hell, and each one of them is a

TITULAR KING!

There's no standarization, apparently no recurrent training, and each one of them interprets the rules...."their own way"! What the hell?

THAT is one that the media needs to go after. Here, let me write you a check for the cost of the video tape...

:mad::mad:

N

Apparently, like me, none of the planes you work on are Airbus, Embraer, Bombardier, etc.