I didn't realize it was less than last outage, this is my first trip here. Yes, it's short but I'd rather make the same total money in less time. This season is LIGHT on outages, CP was the only one that I picked up. I know a few guys that didn't get anything this fall.
By bidding war, I meant companies bidding UP wages to get staffed. Enough old guys retiring to keep us short-handed across the board 
Don't look for the bidding war to start this coming spring. They finally gave us what we asked for - the outages are spread pretty evenly across the season. I don't think there will be more than 10 - 12 simultaneous outages at any given time this spring. There will be package deals of two, three or four consecutive outages for some people. With this schedule, they can do quite well staffing with only the people they have, not offer bonuses (there will be bonuses somewhere because there always are, but not like they were this past spring) not raise rates, and not worry any more than they ever did if you and I like it or not.
Yes, it would be nice if they were bidding up, but they don't need to do that this season. There aren't enough old guys retiring to make a dent. Even if they did, who would notice? Well, that's not fair. Certain people will definitely be missed if they decide to pack it in. The paradox here is that there are only two kinds of people who may retire - the ones who will make your job harder by not being there, and the ones who won't be missed at all. The problem? You just can't make that second group go away, and they are the reason why wages do, and will continue to, suck.