Why don't more Utilities do it??

[RRhoads]

Maybe we could get some responses as to why Utilities don't hire RP Techs like  Diablo does?
Co-employment issues, maybe???
Seems to me that if they can do it, surely others can.
They don't have to pay for a nice office full of people answering the phone & some paper pusher smoosher who's only "real" job is to get the $$ out on time.
Granted that the utility prob. doesn't have to deal with the great retirement of some head shops & the medical ins. that goes up every year( i believe these are called "Employment benefits")
For Diablo wages & diem i could deal w/ my own 401-k & insurance.
I would bet the techs there are happier with that kind of cash!
Now that a certain company has to make a profit for it's investors..i am sure the wages & diem will increase for our dwindling  pool of SR RP Techs!

[Atomic_Punk]

Maybe we could get some responses as to why Utilities don't hire RP Techs like  Diablo does?
Co-employment issues, maybe???
Seems to me that if they can do it, surely others can.
They don't have to pay for a nice office full of people answering the phone & some paper pusher smoosher who's only "real" job is to get the $$ out on time.
Granted that the utility prob. doesn't have to deal with the great retirement of some head shops & the medical ins. that goes up every year( i believe these are called "Employment benefits")
For Diablo wages & diem i could deal w/ my own 401-k & insurance.
I would bet the techs there are happier with that kind of cash!
Now that a certain company has to make a profit for it's investors..i am sure the wages & diem will increase for our dwindling  pool of SR RP Techs!

I think it's just laziness on the part of the utilities.  It's easier to just let the contract company handle it and not deal with the headaches.  Plus, as an added bonus, they can blame the contract company if things go wrong.  Not to mention, you can let a contractor go at anytime for any reason.  Harder to do when they work for the utility.

[RRhoads]

certainly it can't be THAT difficult if Diablo did it.
Must be the lazy way out!
I'd rather pay dues on Diablo wages any day of the week

[UncaBuffalo]

Also you dont have to go find workers, they are sent right to your doorstep as soon as you need them.

Diablo has never had to do much searching to find techs - for that kind of money (plus how great the plant treats us) prospective employees are lined up for the outage jobs.

[Eric_Bartlett]

Back in the early 90's Diablo was staffed by Bartlett as a vendor, they then had us staff them as a head hunter where we went out and hired techs to work directly and temporarily for the utility(I do believe that somewhere during all this transition they might of had NSS/Numanco or PSESI staff'em 1 season), after building thier data base with the information we provided they started doing it themselves, and to thier credit they do it very well -

the reason why utilities (plants) utilize contract companies is due to many reasons, the biggest is flexibility.  Basically a contract staffing company can get things done a lot faster then most plants as far as mobilization of a work force.  They also pay us to absorb administrative issues and any/all problems that might arise from the workforce such as insurance & benefits, workers comp, hiring and terminations, etc... It also comes down to money, in the long run its less costly to bring in a vendor that is set up to staff plants than it is to do it themselves do to the associated costs such as insurance, workers comp, taxes, etc...

As I see it, and I could be wrong, Diablo has it pretty easy as it stands now but if they(the other plants) all did it that way you'd have 30-40 plants per season all competing for the same techs which in turn would mean they'd all have to increase they're "staffing dept" from the couple of people that Diablo utilizes to staff to many people in order to compete against one another, thus creating a bureaucracy at each site that would tie things up and take too long to get anything accomplished - kinda like government.  So like goverment, by privatizing staffing they end up getting a more efficient service and a better product.  Just my opinion which I'm sure many will disagree with.


Eric

[darkmatter]

I think it's just laziness on the part of the utilities.  It's easier to just let the contract company handle it and not deal with the headaches.  Plus, as an added bonus, they can blame the contract company if things go wrong.  Not to mention, you can let a contractor go at anytime for any reason.  Harder to do when they work for the utility.

Atomic_Punk is right on the Money, especially about the letting go part and headaches.

[Surveyors_mato]

Maybe we could get some responses as to why Utilities don't hire RP Techs like  Diablo does?
Co-employment issues, maybe???
Seems to me that if they can do it, surely others can.
They don't have to pay for a nice office full of people answering the phone & some paper pusher smoosher who's only "real" job is to get the $$ out on time.
Granted that the utility prob. doesn't have to deal with the great retirement of some head shops & the medical ins. that goes up every year( i believe these are called "Employment benefits")
For Diablo wages & diem i could deal w/ my own 401-k & insurance.
I would bet the techs there are happier with that kind of cash!
Now that a certain company has to make a profit for it's investors..i am sure the wages & diem will increase for our dwindling  pool of SR RP Techs!

Well There you go, making sense again. Where some people work, that can get you run off. I think some plants, in their "fit for duty" have a section about being 'thunk' on the job.

Have you tried to take to someone about your thinking problem? If I were you, I would before your friends plan an intervention........Seriously, Karma to you to point is well made.