I always get on here and read all the discussions and the whining about the ADC and how they screw the divers and are not any good for us. i believe this to be true as well and see them as just a business trying to get rich off the fees they charge for membership.

 The problem is that no one ever takes any steps to do anything. All that ever happens is more talk. I am a card carrying member of Carpenter's local 2119 in St.Louis but the diving here is done by a non-union company. I have been trying to lobby the union to put a stop to these union contractors using the scab diving company. It seems to be a slow process as I am the only "voice" with a complaint. But I am still trying.

I see the need for all divers, NOT just inland divers, to join together and force these companies to recognize us as a union and treat as us such. This would insure that all divers were paid a decent wage WITH benefits. When i got my 1st job out of school it was for a company here in St.Louis and the guy only paid $15 an hour and 1099'd me and did not have benefits. we all know how hard it is to live on that kind of money.

These companies can afford to pay us a union wage with benefits,they are making a freakin killing off of us. I know for a fact the guy I worked for charged $3000 plus a day for a 4 man dive crew and he was one of the crew so in reality hes only paying 3 guys. One was making 20,one 17 and me 15 so do the math and see how much was profit in his pocket.

I am not saying we should all be paid like brain surgeons but this country and the world for that matter run off the work that we divers do in the gulf and no country would have power if the trash racks and traveling screens were not cleaned. So is it fair to say that WE are just as important as doctors? I'd say we are worth the money..

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  Ya I am a diver that is part of Local 2375 out of California and the union here is a bunch of b******* p****'s.  There is no backing from the pile drivers or the carpenters union.  They allow non union companies and double brested companies to work in the ports here and do nothing. And when pressured by the divers they attempt to audit the companies and get paid off by the companies or the union gets a law suit by the company.   The wh*** union working in the gulf will never happen.  The companies in the gulf will never go for the union rates and the divers will never do anything to unioniz together.  There is to much turn over rate with divers and tenders for it to work.  But with my experiance with working with gulf diver's when they come to California they dont have what it takes to be a union diver.  The wh*** I'm a broke out diver attitude doesn't work here a diver here has to be multi skilled inwater and out and understand that union means work and not playstation and sitting on your ass.
Let's see offshore diver is just that A diver and yeah they spend time waiting to dive because there are what we call Tenders oh what you are! That do all the deck work and set up get everything ready for the diver to do his job I am sick of you inland f*** monkeys thinking you work harder then offshore divers it is just b******* how about you try working at depth and I am not talking in 40 fsw I am talking 150 plus or for that fact 300 fsw and then ride in a chamber and then I want you to go out on deck and start to work hard and in the heat and I will watch you get bent in about 5 minutes and then what Mr inland diver! See inland diver are both tender and diver because you are not doing big dives and you can get away with coming off a dive and working top side with out getting bent so you should watch what you say about real offshore divers and yes there are p****** in both inland and offshore but then you run into a hard core diver!

Look guys this is the kind of thing that causes a problem of trying to get us all together.

Obviously a gulf diver who is broke out and dives is going to be good at his job and obviously an inland diver is going to be good at his. Does that make one better than the other? NO. If you switch roles than neither of you would be as good at the others job thats the way it is. A guy who does drywall all his life isnt going to be good at laying a tile floor.

This discussion wasnt meant to start fights between us. It's purpose is to get us all together.

I feel ya on no one is better then the other but some people just don't get it. No were did I say an offshore diver was better then an inland diver I just stated the facts of both diving inland and offshore
I dont know what inland diver you are calling a f*** you gulf munkey. This inland diver does all typs of deep dives 200 plus and chamber runs and works long hours on every job and every type of weather you f***. Im just smarter to work union and get paid the right amount of money for my diving you 15.00 whore.  Back in the 80's the divers in the gulf tryed to unionize but the p****'s could stand together.  So us inland dive f***s that are union stand together get paid the money a real diver is worth and have been to the gulf and back again.  
There would probably need to be 2 separate unions one for offshore and one for inshore because I could already see what union meetings would be like. The union would have to hire a guy to draw a fat chalk line down the center of the room and god forbid a offshore guy steps into inshores side of the room or vice versa :p
That is some funny s*** $15.00 now I know your full of s*** I have never worked for that and your also full of s*** with doing deep chamber runs and working hard, what did you miss physics in dive class, sounds like it and if not well then you were working for some one that should not be running dives any were. Oh the funny part is I am going to an inland job right now and will be make 39.18 an hour welding anodes on so there you F*** LMFAO.
Whats funny about your $39.00 dollar inland job is just that $39.00. When we as union divers work here in California its $82.00 and its a 8 hour min. And when we work inland throughout the united states its union wage and its a 8 hour min and for a higher wage than your non union b******* and why is that because we union divers stick together.

 

 

to quote a late diving brother Mr. Ed White who said "Diving Contractors have taken more from divers with a pencil than they ever would be legally allowed to with a gun"

What ever diver it is is just trying to make ends meet.

'

Yep your right Scott $39. 00 a hr may seem like good rate on the surface but when they dont add in living and health benefits, vacation pay and dive equipment rental the diver who ever he is gets screwed.  So this rate it isnt really squat.

Today A SKIMPY bag of grocerys is $75.00 and a gallon of gas is $4.00 . Today dive and welding equipment is spendy we need to come out of our dive dreams and be realistic.I know that the very moment I turn on my welding machine my customer had be right there ready willing and able to pay for it as its all money and this isnt a hobby.  

Who ever you are when your a working diver your just trying to make this all work out weather its offshore inland. Dont think for one moment the contractors dont see you coming-they do. Labor is just labor and should be treated as normal business running expences that includes benifits. PROFIT IS SUPPOST TO BE MADE OFF THE JOB AND NOT OFF THE BACKS OF LABOR BY SHORTENING LABOR IN THEIR PAY AND BENEFITS. 

Yeah I bet you spoon each other too with those long hours in the chamber.

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