What do others think??

[Green X]

I’m work for one of the big 3 contractors on this job, and I can tell ya there were allot of workers who aren’t happy about the walk off, me included.

I will also say that I came back from my R&R and at 7pm 1600km from home, bags in hand was handed a new accommodation agreement from FWW/ Woodside and was told I would not be given accommodation unless I signed it.

Now if that isn’t work place bullying I don’t know what is!!

http://www.wabusinessnews.com.au/en-...rkers-walk-off

[snappy]

Sorry i have read the link a couple of times now and i cant make heads or tails of it.
I must be tired or somthing but from my understanding the want you to sign a document so you can stay in a motel .

[351@GT]

"'Motelling' is the term used to describe the movement of workers from their current or existing donga to a new donga at the start of every rotation."

i suppose its so they can use 100% of the rooms 100% of the time, none ever empty, but its gotta suck flying in each time and having to set up in a different room, and picking up new keys each time.

wouldnt think they'd be able to hand you that without any other option.

[cs123]

Doesn't seem too different to most people that travel for work.

Am I missing something?

[Green X]

Originally Posted by cs123

Doesn't seem too different to most people that travel for work.

Am I missing something?

that's basically it mate, except me and most other worker's spend more time living in the donga than we do at home in owe house, I.E in a year i would spend 7-10 months (depending on work load and roster) of it living in a donga. It's nice to be able to have a little space to call my own.

I spend anywhere from 4-5 weeks on site at any one time with only 7 days off site, I work with guys who will work 6-8 weeks straight with only 7-8 days off for R&R!!

the cost of the Camp accommodation is payed for by the my company so it's no free

Personally if this was in the contract at the start i would have said OK it is part of the conditions of employment and not had a problem with it, But my original contract has been amended to incorporate these new terms of employment and i have been forced to sign it too keep my job, now as far as i know that is illegal to change a contract without negotiation or discussion.

I have worked contracted for Rio Tinto, BHP and Newmont and i'v got friends who work for Chevron and Barrick Gold all major Oil and mining company's this is the first time i have heard of this taking place.

I also have mates who work for Woodside directly and they are given a House that is payed for by the company that otherwise would be rented for about $2000p/w that they keep if they are there of not!!

[Green X]

Originally Posted by snappy

Sorry i have read the link a couple of times now and i cant make heads or tails of it.
I must be tired or somthing but from my understanding the want you to sign a document so you can stay in a motel .

Basically the way it normally works is, you come up and you are allocated a room ( It isn't Big) you unpack your work gear & casual cloths + personal items (Photos wife, Kids Ect, Lap top, little radio/Cd player whatever) you work, eat and sleep for you roster, your fly out day is a work day. so you leave site have a shower at camp and get taken to the airport for your flight.

New woodside system, pack up your room the night before, Go to work next day, Come home have a shower, Put dirty work clothes in plastic bag and shove in with clean clothes, Fly out for R&R come back 7 days latter, get new room collect ya gear, unpack all ya gear again, get up 4:15am next day go to work.

As i stated before I spend more time living in my donga than i do my house. There argument is better use of rooms. Empty rooms don't cost them anything and i can tell ya right now if they do fill those rooms when people are out on R&R it won't do anything for productivity on site as we have a hard enough time trying to keep busy with equipment and part's shortages that it'll only cost them money haveing workers standing around doing F-all trying to do jobs they don't have the parts or equipment for!!!

Probably shouldn't say any more than that on a public forum!

[the big fist]

Mate you want the big dollars with mine work then put up with it.
I think it's 100% totally fair.

[calais]

Originally Posted by the big fist

Mate you want the big dollars with mine work then put up with it.
I think it's 100% totally fair.

Not exactly constructive criticism there mate.

I would agree that considering the nature of the work being conducted in a mining environment, It isn't too much to ask of a massive company to provide a small amount of stability with living accomodation. Especially considering that many mine workers do in fact spend more time on site, than in their own homes. I say fair call, but at least give the workers the option, say for example if they want the same room, maybe a small fee could be paid or something along those lines, not the bullying tactics of sign the contract or sleep in your ute.

A little compassion and understanding goes a long way in this world.

[Kryton]

Originally Posted by calais

Not exactly constructive criticism there mate.

I thought the thread was titled "What do others think".

I do believe that the response given was what he thought.

[Yaw]

I guess a lot would depend on the current agreement/contract.
Before I comment on whether or not they are changing it we would need to know what the original one says and when it was signed and duration of the agreement. Ask for a copy of the current agreement/contract, post that, then we (forum members) can give you what we think. Just no way to give an answer sorry.

[Kryton]

also, is there a clause somewhere in that contract that allows them to change/amend that contract as they see fit?

[the big fist]

The project is already 6-10% OVER budget of $11.2 billion and is all due to low productivity. So the company wants to save where they can. Get the guys to get back on track and some compassion for their living arrangements may follow.

Yes the workers spend more time on site than at home and hence why they receive the big dollars. Get a local job at the lower rate if you want to spend more time with family. You cant have the best of both worlds. However, I do agree that a compromise of paying a fee for a regular room is an excellent idea.

Cheers,

[xr6turbo2005]

Originally Posted by Green X

New woodside system, pack up your room the night before, Go to work next day, Come home have a shower, Put dirty work clothes in plastic bag and shove in with clean clothes, Fly out for R&R come back 7 days latter, get new room collect ya gear, unpack all ya gear again, get up 4:15am next day go to work.

so the issue is that you dont keep the same room whilst away on R & R ? if so, yeah agree, not the best, always nice to come back to your owe home away from home i guess. But reality is this would be costing a lot more with in having extra dongas.

do they provide some sort of locker you can store you personal belonging in whilst away so you dont have to carry them back and forth. If not perhaps thats the compromise.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by the big fist

Mate you want the big dollars with mine work then put up with it.
I think it's 100% totally fair.

is it really big dollars? divide the dollars earned by the amount of hours they have to put in (often min 12hrs a day/7days). then add in the fact that they are away from family/friends etc. a lot of sacrifices get made. if you break it down, i often think the hourly rate isn't all that special.

[Ghiadude]

If your original contract states you keep your own room on R&R and the contract is still valid then they cant force you to sign a new one. If however the contract is up for renewal then they are entitled to change it as they see fit and if its a sore point then move on. agreed it does suck to lose an entitlement

[Green X]

Originally Posted by the big fist

The project is already 6-10% OVER budget of $11.2 billion and is all due to low productivity. So the company wants to save where they can. Get the guys to get back on track and some compassion for their living arrangements may follow.

Yes the workers spend more time on site than at home and hence why they receive the big dollars. Get a local job at the lower rate if you want to spend more time with family. You cant have the best of both worlds. However, I do agree that a compromise of paying a fee for a regular room is an excellent idea.

Cheers,

Mate i never once complained about the pay or the hours and conditions i have to work in!!! I work the hours and i work hard for the wage.

Just about evry project will go over budget, ya just don't hear about it, BHP Newman Hub went 6-8 months over time and god knows how much over budget, nature of the industry, you have brake downs, equipment fails, we make mistakes, engineers change things, incorrect parts show up or parts just don't show up.

That due to low productivity statement really get's under my skin cause it's mostly B/S. The reality is we get stuff come in from Asia that has "Apparently" passed Q/A it shows up on site and it'll have the incorrect bolts used, Bolts missing, things that should fit together and things that should line up don't. Then we spend the next 6 weeks reworking something that was meant to have been passed off!!! bang ya now 6 weeks behind. I'v been on this job for 6 months and i would have spent likely 3 of those doing rework on stuff from Asia that were "Drop in" Items.

[Green X]

Originally Posted by the big fist

Mate you want the big dollars with mine work then put up with it.
I think it's 100% totally fair.

Mate have you ever worked in the mining or Oil & Gas industry??

Cause most people see the $$ figure and have no idea what is required to make those $$.

I don't have any major problems with the "motelin system" Yes it is a inconvenience and a PITA. what i do have a problem with is the way it has been implemented!!

Actually allot of the Lady's have more of a issue with it.

[v gate]

moteling sucks did it for 12 months in prominent hill. Having to drag your crap around camp everytime you flew in on a stinking hot fly infested day trying to find your new room only to find someones gear still in the room SUCKS.
We had 1 guy change rooms 3 times in 1 week.
Rooms not cleaned because the cleaners dont have time.
Personel things (even clothing) go missing.
People walking into the wrong rooms.
I had 1 room with fridge full of beer left for me (thank you very much)
So moteling SUCKS (except the beer bit)

[Green X]

Originally Posted by Ghiadude

If your original contract states you keep your own room on R&R and the contract is still valid then they cant force you to sign a new one. If however the contract is up for renewal then they are entitled to change it as they see fit and if its a sore point then move on. agreed it does suck to lose an entitlement

You sign a accommodation agreement where you agree to the terms and conditions of the camp (Moteling is not one of them) Until now. It has just been added in.

When you are on site a Full charge is paid for your room by your company, when you are off site a "Holding" Fee i spose you could call it is paid for you room, as the room does not require cleaning and your not eating in the mess.

Ruff guess a room is 4m by 3m.

The camp was meant to be a 2500 man camp i believe, but only 2100 rooms were put in.

[bd737]

What a storm in a teacup, I work FIFO and this is rediculous. What next, walk off the job because they don't do room service?

[Green X]

Originally Posted by bd737

What a storm in a teacup, I work FIFO and this is rediculous. What next, walk off the job because they don't do room service?

Mate i agree, it's not a walk off issue, take it thou the courts.
Problem is you've got a bunch of cowboys up hear winding the workers up and befor ya know it all sense goes out the window.

Me and the group of guys i work with are not happy, There is nothing ya can do there is no protection for you if you go against the mob and go too work, ya go to work and your finished.

Just got a back to work order for tomorrow, now so if they pull this rubbish again we are stuffed.

Superintendent i work for runs a core group of guys that he takes with him to different jobs, He's got us another contract on a BHP site but the work is still 4 months away.

Sirously considering taking a pay cut doing some shutdown work till then.

[xtremerus]

There will be a lot more of this, in the mining industry, and others. The end of 'Work Choices' contracts will see the unions try to regain some of their lost power.

[Romulus]

Originally Posted by xtremerus

There will be a lot more of this, in the mining industry, and others. The end of 'Work Choices' contracts will see the unions try to regain some of their lost power.

I agree, it's a sign of things to come, with the unions testing the waters with the abolishment of Work Choices. However, I believe the companies are as bad, probably also finding out where the limits are.

Green X, how far along is the Pluto project? One of the foreman I know who works for JHG says the job is almost finished.

[Green X]

Originally Posted by TVS Super Pursuit

I agree, it's a sign of things to come, with the unions testing the waters with the abolishment of Work Choices. However, I believe the companies are as bad, probably also finding out where the limits are.

Green X, how far along is the Pluto project? One of the foreman I know who works for JHG says the job is almost finished.

I agree mate, I believe Woodside are doing exactly that, by seeing what they can push thou before it starts booming again.

Well they are still working on the Trunk line! Woodside are talking about pumping first Gas November/December...... They might pull it off.

CBI is doing pneumatic testing on the storage tanks ATM

Realty is there is still allot of work and Re-work that has too happen, they say what it's 80% done... It's that last 20% that's the time consuming PITA stuff that takes forever and day!

just in my work scope, We haven't even started hooking up Hydraulics on Loading arms (The Power pac's aren't even hear yet!!), having issues with the compressor's, we're still fighting with the Cryogenic LNG & Condensate pipes that came out of Thailand that have been incorrectly prepped, Valves need to be fitted, Etc, Etc. Not sure what is going on up on the Gas processing Train but I'm sure they are having fun too!

then ya still got to commission the plant and that just shows up all the problems ya didn't even know about

[schnoods]

Originally Posted by Green X

Mate i agree, it's not a walk off issue, take it thou the courts.
Problem is you've got a bunch of cowboys up hear winding the workers up and befor ya know it all sense goes out the window.

Me and the group of guys i work with are not happy, There is nothing ya can do there is no protection for you if you go against the mob and go too work, ya go to work and your finished.

Just got a back to work order for tomorrow, now so if they pull this rubbish again we are stuffed.

Superintendent i work for runs a core group of guys that he takes with him to different jobs, He's got us another contract on a BHP site but the work is still 4 months away.

Sirously considering taking a pay cut doing some shutdown work till then.

Im going to take a punt here. Your out there for Monadelphous? And the BHP site you are talking about is Worsley? FIGJAM if i got one of them right :

My brother in law is a pipefitter out there for Monadelphous, he was telling me about the motelling or "hotbedding" they were planning. I cant blame you guys for striking, last thing you want isa day of 40 + degree heat then have to worry about which room your in and the condition it was left in...

One of my dad's mates was out there for UGL as a fitter. he quit about 8 weeks ago now, he reckoned to work out there you had to be an aussie and over 50, his crew was apparently very slack with no T/A's. There was also a dispute with the pay and actual time worked, apparently the travel time wasn't included in the day....

[Green X]

Originally Posted by schnoods

Im going to take a punt here. Your out there for Monadelphous? And the BHP site you are talking about is Worsley? FIGJAM if i got one of them right :

My brother in law is a pipefitter out there for Monadelphous, he was telling me about the motelling or "hotbedding" they were planning. I cant blame you guys for striking, last thing you want isa day of 40 + degree heat then have to worry about which room your in and the condition it was left in...

One of my dad's mates was out there for UGL as a fitter. he quit about 8 weeks ago now, he reckoned to work out there you had to be an aussie and over 50, his crew was apparently very slack with no T/A's. There was also a dispute with the pay and actual time worked, apparently the travel time wasn't included in the day....

Almost LOL, I'm a Mechanical Fitter for AGC and the BHP job is the Yandi Iron ore mine.

Don't know where he got Hot bedding from, that was a BS story being spread around.
Travel time is not Payed. nothing new there, Travel is sometimes payed if you have to travel say 40+ minutes to site.

There are allot of day dreamers on this job, this is the best payed and easiest job i have been on, yes it has it's issues but some of these idiots who are barely skilled think they are actually worth what they get payed.

[Green X]

Update, apparently there is a picket line tomorrow, they extended the strike by 48hrs after the AMWU advised against it.

Me and 3 other guys on my crew and about 40 others from the company had had enough of this strike BS and went to work, it's all in the courts now let's see what comes out of that I say.

So Tomorrow we're walking thou the Picket line to go to work, F- these idiots

[andrew77]

You will be a popular guy

[Romulus]

Good on you for taking a stand, good luck with it. Let us know how you go.

[woodsy109]

They probably just wanted Australia day off!

I work FIFO as well (at work currently) and it says nothing in my contract about what standard of accomodation they provide only that it is provided free of charge. At my site all permanent employees get double size rooms and own ensuite. Permanent contractors get single room and shared two way bathroom. Temp contractors get different room every time they return to site and shared bathrooms. The only time they hotbed (nightshift/dayshift) is during major shutdowns and all are cleaned every shift and a locker provided. I would have thought that during construction, nobody would have permanantly had their own room as the majority wouldn't stay on after construction.

I don't think it would be too much to ask to vacate a room when not onsite, and i'm sure they would have to provide lockers for personal items. HOWEVER you didn't sign up for this. If I was in the same situation, I would be trying my hardest to preserve the conditions that I signed on with.