some perks of the past

[ramdog_1]

Some many things have changed . at one time you could go site to site and it was like a reuion to see who was there. It was Nice to give your name to the site Cord. and he shook your hand smiled and gave you a check and hat and pen.
and then we had to get the good guy letter at each site. and the MMPI at every site so fun.

[illegalsmile]

Uhhh, what if you remember all of them? The 'voting machine' only lets you select one.

[ramdog_1]

Good Point! Plus the wish lists use to read 60 days 90 days. ect.
I have not seen a list saying 90 days in a long time. nor do they bring 150 SRHP and Jr hps.
nor do you have the deconnors coming up asking to go set up the A/S for you and to take smears so they can learn the ways.

[stownsend]

Numanco- one days per diem for each 300 miles driven

Early Bartlett (just Bruce and Judy in the office) 8hour travel,20 cents per mile and a days per diem from Connecticut to Peach Bottom

[alphadude]

yep good ole Rad Services
car, perdiam, flight, advance, and those other special items that a tech from the 70's needed to get along

[Rahrah]

What about the great feeds that IRM used to put on?  You could count on a feast to start an outage.

Ruth

[fueldryer]

Must be a company thing,as I still get pretty much all of the above...still. Life is good

[SloGlo]

yep good ole Rad Services
car, perdiam, flight, advance, and those other special items that a tech from the 70's needed to get along

knot two mention time 'n a half after 40 'n double time sundays.  plus individual hellth insurance.  'n alwaze gitting da summers off.  even iffen yer site werked all summer, ya gist put infer da layoff 'n dey braught sum buddy else in, 'n ya gots yer travel out to.

[duke99301]

Well since I moved out working as an HP I did pick up the above.

[vikingfan]

Well since I moved out working as an HP I did pick up the above.

i agree duke ! companies such as westinghouse, masterlee, GE, and areva still provide rental cars, paid airfare. paid hotel etc.. not sure why more companies don't do it but i'm sure there's a reason for it.

[illegalsmile]

i agree duke ! companies such as westinghouse, masterlee, GE, and areva still provide rental cars, paid airfare. paid hotel etc.. not sure why more companies don't do it but i'm sure there's a reason for it.

Ye$$$ JJ, I'm $$$ure there i$$$$.

[SloGlo]

i agree duke ! companies such as westinghouse, masterlee, GE, and areva still provide rental cars, paid airfare. paid hotel etc.. not sure why more companies don't do it but i'm sure there's a reason for it.

doz companies are doing that for there employees.  they also provide in-house certifications, qualifications, physicals, yadda, yadda, yadda.  corporate employees are in a different venue than rentateks.

[fueldryer]

doz companies are doing that for there employees.  they also provide in-house certifications, qualifications, physicals, yadda, yadda, yadda.  corporate employees are in a different venue than rentateks.

Not so..I'm a part time employee and I get all those "perks".Airfare,cars,hotels,deim..And I also get the medical benny's too.All at no cost to me.Plus a pretty hefty pay rate too boot...

[Old HP]

 profit sharing, stock options, prepaid air travel, rental cars with weekly reimbusement for gas and lets not forget that long gone issue of full coverage health insurance.
Ah the life of a road tech, now we get  $.40 per mile  and ??

[Mike McFarlin]

If your not getting all the "old" bennies then you should negotiate better for yourself.

[Camella Black]

If your not getting all the "old" bennies then you should negotiate better for yourself.

Not to be rude here Mike but the average rent-a-tech in no way receives the type of "bennies" they once received. Even the pay scale has not kept up with the cost of living.

Back in the eighties Henry and I paid 800.00 per month rent without a room mate, drove new cars, clothed our children in whatever they wanted to wear and threw thousands away on various hobbies and stuff young people usually take part in. We had EXCELLENT insurance, worked almost year round and had paid time off at times. Needless to say, those days are gone.

As long as the outages are spread apart and we all need the work then we are right where everyone out there needs us: looking for the next job. This in my opinion is the driving force that keeps the outages spread apart because by making outages few and far between the powers that be can keep the pay low thus saving money.

The majority of us work for the same companies every outage and there really is no negotiating. You either take the job or don’t or maybe you hold out and come in on the back up contract and get a few more perks or pennies that way.

[Already Gone]

I didn't get most of those bennies as a road HP.  I came out of the Navy in the fall of 87.  By then, there was a "glut" of HP's in the business.  Some blame TMI for this introduction of many new, and barely qualified, people to the business.
All the stories about the travel pay, rental cars, bennies, ... etc. seem to end at about that time.  There seems to be a correlation.
If you have ever read anything I have posted on this site, you might make the connection between these "blessed-off" HP's and the overall decline in everything to do with being an HP.
All those break-room cowboys, sweater-knitters, salesmen, slugs, untrainables, and undesirables came into a job with the least of qualifications, diluted the industry to the point where pay, benefits, and all consideration became based on the lowest common denominator.
Look around the break room tomorrow.  How many people are in there with whom you would trust a new car that you were paying for?  That is why YOU don't have one.
How many of them would work for $19/hr becaus there is no other job on earth that would pay them near that much?  That is why YOU get paid crap.
How many will take whatever thay get because they don't do enough to earn even that much?  They are the reason why YOU have to settle for crap insurance, poor wages, no rented cars, low per diem, no respect from the office or the customer, and less work than you need to make a living.
The job hasn't gotten any easier.  You have to do the same work or more in less time with fewer people.  Dose limits are far more limiting than they were in 1987.  Personnel contaminations are a big deal now - you have to prevent them almost to the exclusion of safety.  We haven't gotten any younger either.  Climbing the polar crane to do a survey is work now.  We used to do it just to kill time.
Next time you find yourself doing the work of two people, go find the lazy jerk in the trailer taking a nap and remind him that you are really earning $50/hr but you only get half because he's getting the other half.

[Tech A]

Hey Beercourt I cant believe you are badmouthing are Bartlett/ Atlantic companies by saying they are paying us crap wages, giving us poor insurance, low per diem and that we get no respect from Bartlett/Atlantic or the utilities?  I hope you stay off the road with that kind of talk.

[duke99301]

is he not working for APM and getting a hole lot better deal?
I got a a very good gig with my 3nd time with atlantic  travel in out high rate plus ot and good diem. but I am not an hp.

[Old HP]

Dear Bittercourt,

It seems that you are a little tainted in your opinion of how things have evolved in the world of HP. The bottom line is  that there are still some of us out here that are trying to improve the image of contract HPs by  good job performance and helping to share the benefit of experience and education with fellow techs in the field. I had the dubious honor of seeing you work last spring.
 The bottom line is "Those that can, do, and those that can't get other jobs.

                                                                Just Another Dumb - Old HP

[Mike McFarlin]

Not to be rude here Mike but the average rent-a-tech in no way receives the type of "bennies" they once received. Even the pay scale has not kept up with the cost of living.

Back in the eighties Henry and I paid 800.00 per month rent without a room mate, drove new cars, clothed our children in whatever they wanted to wear and threw thousands away on various hobbies and stuff young people usually take part in. We had EXCELLENT insurance, worked almost year round and had paid time off at times. Needless to say, those days are gone.

As long as the outages are spread apart and we all need the work then we are right where everyone out there needs us: looking for the next job. This in my opinion is the driving force that keeps the outages spread apart because by making outages few and far between the powers that be can keep the pay low thus saving money.

The majority of us work for the same companies every outage and there really is no negotiating. You either take the job or don’t or maybe you hold out and come in on the back up contract and get a few more perks or pennies that way.

I guess the key word is average. I haven't worked for the same company more than 3 times in the last 8 years. So if you get screwed taking the first job down the shute then shame on you.

[Mike McFarlin]

Dear Bittercourt,

It seems that you are a little tainted in your opinion of how things have evolved in the world of HP. The bottom line is  that there are still some of us out here that are trying to improve the image of contract HPs by  good job performance and helping to share the benefit of experience and education with fellow techs in the field. I had the dubious honor of seeing you work last spring.
 The bottom line is "Those that can, do, and those that can't get other jobs.

                                                                Just Another Dumb - Old HP

Well said.

[illegalsmile]

If the pay, etc is down because of the NPU (Non-Productive Units) that are in the business, you can't really blame them for taking the best paying job they can get. I'd say the blame lays with the people who hire them, and ultimately, that's the utilities.

[ramdog_1]

Bitter table of one!

[Already Gone]

Let's clear these all up in one shot.
No, I do not work for APM.  I do often work with APM.  My better deal didn't just fall in my lap.  There was a lot of luck involved, but that only got me the one job.  The rest, I had to earn.
No, I am not bitter.  I am disappointed and a little disgusted, but not bitter.  How could I be?  I am way better off now than I was five years ago.  I just wish that I could say the same for a lot of my friends.  They work hard for crap money, and I know they deserve better.
I am not badmouthing Bartlett or Atlantic for paying the crap wages and per diem that they pay.  They are my competitors, but they see it as I do.  As long as it takes 24 hours of pay to get six hours of work, the hourly rate is going to reflect that.  Unfortunately, the six hours of work gets done in about five hours by a minority of the HP's.
OldHP, if you really are an HP, you didn't see a twentieth of what I do for a living.  You saw me at the place where we both worked, but you probably didn't witness any of what I do.  Please spare me the wisdom. Here's the way it really works:  Those who can, do;  those who can't, fake it; and those who can learn, get promoted.
If you are truly interested in improving the profession, good for you.  You're one of those folks I feel such sympathy for.

This brings up another point.  Every time I touch a nerve here, some jagoff brings up the fact that I no longer work as an HP.  difference does that make?  Am I supposed to just say f#@k you to all those HP's I have known over the years just because I don't have to suffer the same pains anymore?  It really makes me wonder, how will you behave when you get the chance to move into something better?  Will you just forget all those people and stop caring about them?  I can't do that.  I consider myself fortunate to have been given the chance to progress in my career.  I'm no way going to turn my back on the people who helped me get here.  I'm going to keep speaking up for them and try to improve their plight.  The way I see it is if it wasn't good enough for me then it sure isn't good enough for them.  I'm not going to pretend that it doesn't matter anymore just because it doesn't affect me personaly.  Of all the things I have learned, the biggest one is to never say never.  I might end up swinging a meter again someday.  I hope not to do that, but I'm certainly not above it.  A lot of good people make their living that way and I'd be honored to be among them.  But, if I ever do come back I'm going to give my best effort and continue to harass, harangue and ridicule anybody who is just taking up space.

[illegalsmile]

Hey Beercourt I cant believe you are badmouthing are Bartlett/ Atlantic companies by saying they are paying us crap wages, giving us poor insurance, low per diem and that we get no respect from Bartlett/Atlantic or the utilities? .

Please tell me this is sarcasm

[vikingfan]

I can remember working for ARC ( another rubber check) at brunswick in 91 after they accidentally cut up a start up source and had americium 241 all over the friggen place thar arc would treat us almost weekly to a company paid dinner at the local restaurant went there for a 6 week job and ended up being there for almost 9 months $$$$$$$$$$$

[alphadude]

i remember that i did get $17.00 hour in 1978 from rad.. ahh yes when techs were walkin on water

[SloGlo]

i remember that i did get $17.00 hour in 1978 from rad.. ahh yes when techs were walkin on water

wherinell wuz dis??  '78??  hail, hp supervisors didn't make that kinda buck.  maybe linda perry did, but she gotta be da onliest won on rad's payroll dat made dat kinda cash. 

[Old HP]

In 1978   IRM was paying $6.00 to 6.50 as a consultant  (no taxes paid by employer and overtime pay held until the end of the outage) and $25/ day per diem
             NSS was paying $7.00  and  $30 / day per diem

It may have seemed like $17.00 to some as gas was $.60 per gallon and I bought a new Toyota Celica GT for $5800

[RDTroja]

i remember that i did get $17.00 hour in 1978 from rad.. ahh yes when techs were walkin on water

Are you twins? Is your name Eli Crosby or Ray Brooks?

I think your memory needs dusting off...

[snowman]

I'll get us back on topic here. I've gotten all those "perks" listed at the beginning of this thread at one time or another but one time and only one time did I get all three at once. Combustion Engineering in the fall of 1985. I'll give that man/woman a cigar if they can name that job.

I never really thought of these things as perks though, perks to me were benefits which rental(sic) tech companies didn't pay us back then. Only their "full time" techs got bennies/perks.

Ahh, the good ol' days...

[Camella Black]

Would that be CY?

[SloGlo]

snowman.... eye usta git des perks at alla jobs.  iffen eye didn't, aye gotta nudder job.  simple solutions, huh?

re: yer c-e question, aye daunt no uva '85 job, butt eye got alla doz wit c-e at songs, trojan, 'n pilgrim.  kin ya guess dat time frame?

[RADBASTARD]

you forgot about the health insurance

[snowman]

snowman.... eye usta git des perks at alla jobs.  iffen eye didn't, aye gotta nudder job.  simple solutions, huh?

re: yer c-e question, aye daunt no uva '85 job, butt eye got alla doz wit c-e at songs, trojan, 'n pilgrim.  kin ya guess dat time frame?

We used to get 1 days per diem/500 miles and so many cents per mile in and out, but rental cars were a thing of the past in '85. As for your question slo-glo, I'd say late 70's to very early '80's.

And Camella, it wasn't CY. But you're close, real close. Hint: Plant has gone to the big plant in the sky!

[vikingfan]

some of these perks still exist but they are far and in between . my current employer give me a rental car, paid air fare, direct deposit of both pay roll and per diem. plus 8 hours travel pay at my pay rate plus fed mileage rate and 1 day diem on the travel day. 20 hrs travel when we travel to japan or taiwan etc.

[alphadude]

ive been challenged on the rate rad paid me during that period and yes i did get it..     dont know why.. well i do,- i never said i was an HP at that time now did i   when i left in 81 i was making around 18.32 or so an hour. took a pay cut to work for the utility-which was 15.00 or so an hour.

By the way all the same people reacted the same way about 3 years ago when i made the same statement on here..

[SloGlo]

As for your question slo-glo, I'd say late 70's to very early '80's.

verry, verry good.  witch is why its a perk of da past.

[Gonzo]

..... average. I haven't worked for the same company more than 3 times in the last 8 years. ....

isn't this a clue of some sort?..   (just kiddin)

[Mike McFarlin]

Duh?

[fueldryer]

We used to get 1 days per diem/500 miles and so many cents per mile in and out, but rental cars were a thing of the past in '85. As for your question slo-glo, I'd say late 70's to very early '80's.

And Camella, it wasn't CY. But you're close, real close. Hint: Plant has gone to the big plant in the sky!

Well then, was it Yankee Rowe,Maine Yankee or Conn. Yankee? They've all gone to the "big plant in the sky"

[SloGlo]

Well then, was it Yankee Rowe,Maine Yankee or Conn. Yankee? They've all gone to the "big plant in the sky"

awl sew known as fission forever.

[Mike McFarlin]

Its more a numbers game now. Companies are just too big. The personal touch seems to be gone.

[Mike McFarlin]

No more fatherly talks with owners.

[SloGlo]

No more fatherly talks with owners.

dang.... 'n hare eye thaught yfg's wuz moor uva uncle ear beeting.

[snowman]

Well then, was it Yankee Rowe,Maine Yankee or Conn. Yankee? They've all gone to the "big plant in the sky"

Maine Yankee.

And to continue with this thread, some of the "perks' working at Maine Yankee in 1985 including NOT having to go through any kind of security to get in the plant every day. You simply walked up to the window in the guard house, said hi to Sam the guard and got your badge. No metal detector, no x-ray machine, no bomb sniffing monitor. It was wonderful.

Then, one of the first things your guide wanted to show people was an area around the back side of containment. At the equipment hatch was a fenced-in break area posted as a "Radiation/Contamination Area" that had been set up for folks working INSIDE of containment. Backed up to this area was a semi-trailer converted into a refreshment stand. And milling around were dozens of people still dressed out in PC's minus the gloves and hoods, sipping their coffee and munching on their dognuts. You got a quick hand survey from the Jr. HP and it was of to the glazed and sprinkled delights. You literally stared at this site, unable to comprehend what you were seeing. You definitely weren't in Kansas anymore.

Amd what was the first thing you did when you hit containment? You headed straight for that break area to slurp coffee and munch on dognuts! It was wonderful.

[stownsend]

Maine Yankee.

Amd what was the first thing you did when you hit containment? You headed straight for that break area to slurp coffee and munch on dognuts! It was wonderful.

Then as you wiped your fingers on the PC'S you could get a cigarette before you went back to work.

[Mike McFarlin]

Maine Yankee.

And to continue with this thread, some of the "perks' working at Maine Yankee in 1985 including NOT having to go through any kind of security to get in the plant every day. You simply walked up to the window in the guard house, said hi to Sam the guard and got your badge. No metal detector, no x-ray machine, no bomb sniffing monitor. It was wonderful.

Then, one of the first things your guide wanted to show people was an area around the back side of containment. At the equipment hatch was a fenced-in break area posted as a "Radiation/Contamination Area" that had been set up for folks working INSIDE of containment. Backed up to this area was a semi-trailer converted into a refreshment stand. And milling around were dozens of people still dressed out in PC's minus the gloves and hoods, sipping their coffee and munching on their dognuts. You got a quick hand survey from the Jr. HP and it was of to the glazed and sprinkled delights. You literally stared at this site, unable to comprehend what you were seeing. You definitely weren't in Kansas anymore.

Amd what was the first thing you did when you hit containment? You headed straight for that break area to slurp coffee and munch on dognuts! It was wonderful.

You can still have those perks at Maine Yankee, now.

[Phurst]

Maine Yankee.


Amd what was the first thing you did when you hit containment? You headed straight for that break area to slurp coffee and munch on dognuts! It was wonderful.

Dognuts? Yuck! I liked Yankee Rowe. Beer for lunch with the plant manager or fishing at the intake. Sweet place!

[alphadude]

dont foget weapons- you could take them in your car and sell them in the parking lots. sometimes even take them into the plant- remember sweeney at salem- got caught coming out of the plant with a 357   

[SloGlo]

@ oconee inna 70s, yinz cood go out two da sop area frum containment, doff yer gloves, git a hand 'n face frisk, burn a butt 'n get a drinka water.  never thaught dat was a perk, thought it moor a way to keep every buddy working inna can four moren 2 ours.

[snowman]

dont foget weapons- you could take them in your car and sell them in the parking lots. sometimes even take them into the plant- remember sweeney at salem- got caught coming out of the plant with a 357   

I thought bringing an automatic weapon to work was a prerequisite to get into Turkey Point in the 1980's!

[xobxdoc]

Playing cards for 3 weeks in a trailer overlooking the Pacific Ocean waiting for your red badge at a 4 month outage. That was cool!
 Working an endless 7/12s outage at Turkey Point in 85. When we got off work, we would go watch the Juniors shoot their guns across a canal adjacent to the parking lot and have a few beers. That was all you had time for.