Do you think it is possible to reach an agreement with Bartlett now for outages that they have already bid on and have contracts for a set amount of money.
It is not possible.
Contracts area bid as such:
Billing Rate = Worker Pay Rate + Costs (Tax's & Insurance) + Overhead + Profit
These costs are fixed percentages. The amount of money the employer has to pay in Federal & State taxes, FICA, unemployment insurance, and workers comp, are all fixed percentages (Different companies can negotiate different workers comp rates based on their safety record). The only way to adjust overhead is to fire office employees, and I don’t think we want them to let the payroll lady or the recruiter go. The only adjustable number is the desired profit, which typically is fixed at ~3% for successful companies. You could add more profit to your proposal, but then you’ll lose the bid on the contract. Below are some examples.
Billing Rate = Worker Pay Rate + Costs (Tax's & Insurance) + Overhead + Profit
Billing Rate = $22.50/hr Pay Rate + 22-
36% Direct Costs +
6-12% Overhead +
3-6% Profit
Billing Rate = $22.5/hr Pay Rate + $8.10/hr Direct Costs + $1.35/hr Overhead + $0.68/hr Profit
Billing Rate = $32.63/hr
These are realistic numbers, I can't say that these are Bartlett's exact numbers, (probably a few % high, the actual billing rate is probably lower than that above) but they are realistic.
Conclusion: I don't see how Bartlett could pay a Union $8-$10/hr more than they can bill on their current contract.
Bartlett doesn’t mind paying people more, if they can win the contract. Because everything else (profit including) are percent multipliers. When you get paid more, THEY get paid more.
If you get paid $10/hr, your employer has to pay taxes and insurance at ~36% = $3.60/hr, their overhead is ~6% $0.60/hr (again, just an example I don't know their specific numbers, but they are in the ball park) and their profit would be 3% or $0.30/hr, with a billing rate of $14.5/hr.
If you got paid $100 an hour, then Bartlett would make a profit of $3/hr on you instead of 30 cents. The more you make, the more they make. They LOVE paying you more. That means THEY make more.
If they had to pay a Union $5/hr, and you $35 ($40/hr total), Bartlett wouldn't mind, because then their billing rate would be $58/hr, and $1.20/hr of that would be profit, which is better than the $0.68/per hour they are making on you now. (As long as they got the contract awarded... it's more likely that Atlantic would get the contract because they could bill at $33/hr instead of $58/hr.
I’ve posted these numbers before, and how these contracts really work. People don’t want to believe the facts. They want to think Bartlett makes $100/hr on them. It just isn’t true. If it was, I’d be in the tech rental business. But at 67.5 cents an hour profit ($27/week on 40 hrs), it’s not worth the hassle. I’d rather pick up cans along the road.