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Re: Overtime pay on piece work

Thought I'd chime in once on this topic.

The way it stands for most of us cable installers, is that we make ourselves available between 7 and 7, 6 days a week (much like an hourly worker). We get jobs assigned to us for the day. If I could fill the day with jobs, I'd feel like I was truly a production worker, I could really kick ass and would be happy doing so, I and most of the techs at my company are not hacks, far from it. We are at this job for many reasons, we leave this job for many reasons, frequently it is being treated badly, other times the skills just aren't there. You cannot lump any said group, because we a a very diverse group. To say that the industry is full of hacks because of whatever is only half true, its also full of good people trying to scrape out a living. I realize the msos control many aspects of this business but reading here at the bar and experience tell me the primes could do more to make the cable techs life less demeaning.

If I could make $18 per hour for the time I spend representing my prime I would make much more than what I do now. They may make less too, but one lost lawsuit could make the production pay thing a bad idea.

Most days we have gaps where I work, but I refuse to give away my skills to fill in the gaps. I've become proficient enough to have lots of gaps between jobs, its hard to really do anything productive between jobs, company wouldn't like it either. We drive trucks dedicated to the job as well as having the truck logoed with the primes sign.

I see the management side of this discussion, as one of the worker bees currently I FEEL that side.
I like my boss at my prime, he knows cable better than anyone I've ever met. The company I contract for pays on time, and the office folks generally look out for my best interests. I still feel like a cheap hooker though.
Sorry to let my frustrations out, I try to see the glass half full but its very hard to do in my area.
This is CABL.com posting #163071. Tiny Link: cabl.co/mQAl
Posted in reply to: Re: Overtime pay on piece work by Midwest Splicing
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