IMO, its a question of what kind of companies do you feel are good for the industry that you have chosen to make a living. Companies who obey the law, or companies who ignore them. Are the chances greater that a company that will break the law will treat its workers or the trade better than companies who obey the law.
Getting rid of the companies who use the bogus contractor model may force them out the business and/or attract more reputable and honest companies to bid on cable/sat contracts with MSOs and satellite platform providers. The companies now accept crumbs because they feel the work we perform has little value. The honest companies cant bid against these companies. Companies who feel our work is worth something would never agree to the BS contracts that are out here now. But the companies who have know problem breaking the law by misclassifying workers dont seem to have problem with it.
Getting rid of the so called contractor business model will hopefully do as you said and force the rates down. As it should, because the new lower rates is the TRUE value these companies think our work is worth. The only make it seem a little better by 1099ing us. They dont really feel our work is a 52k a year job. If the rates go down, less people may work for them and companies will be required to either get more from MSOs and platform providers or leave the business. Hopefully, if enough people actually report these companies they will be fined so heavily and made to pay so much in back taxes they will go BK'd.
We need companies who feel our work has value. Believe it or not, but there are actually contractors who pay $20-26 per hour with bennies for low voltage CATV work. We need more of them. They cant compete with the companies we have now who feel our work is worth only $13/hr a week as an emplyee or $1000/wk as a 1099, which are both just about the same thing. Allowing these companies who use this illegal and bogus model to set up camp in cable/sat is ruining this industry. The fact we dont seem to realize this is why they are successful at doing the things they do with a smile. Its why we blame the hacks and not them. As long as we allow these types in this industry the rates and quality of jobs will continue to decline.
This industry could be providing jobs with a base pay of 50k to employees and 80k to 1099. This about the norm in the telecom industry, and we are bringing down the industry average. Yes, the true and proud cable dawg and sat guy is bringing down the industry average pay in telecommunications. We could stop this. But we gotta get rid of the companies who low ball the value of our while breaking the law and mis-classifying workers. We gotta clean house in order to attract quality companies into the cable/sat contracting business.
Re: contractor or employee: where's the line?
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