Whats pissing me off today!

[swiss miss]

i have been waiting for the full details of this story to break until i posted about it.

So, petrol tanker drivers in the UK (working for Shell) went on strike a couple of weeks ago leading to petrol shortages, some stations running out and others upping their prices to stupid amounts. Ok, now everybody deserves a pay rise and apparently they hadnt had one for 14years but f*ck me they sit on their arse all day driving a lorry and their average pay is £40,000.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7467314.stm

Now, im sorry (actually im not but thats what your supposed to say) but i went to university for 7 years, i have a degree and a PhD, im a highly skilled worker and i earn a lot less than that. These people have held the company to ransom and have succeeded because the petrol stations were running out of fuel. A few quotes from their union were that "its dangerous work" - dangerous as compared to what, a fire-fighter (average pay = £26,000 in 2006), its long hours: now admittedly 48hour week is quite long compared to some but i put in 20hrs just on friday.

i guess what it comes down to is whether anyone takes notice if you go on strike over pay..... for most of us, sadly, nobody would bat an eyelid but when the oil companyies start losing money and there is a lack of petrol for the government to make excessive amounts on fuel duty the strikers soon seem to get what they want...... i could also rant about tube drivers but id better stop and have some yogi tea before i explode.

[Canadiana]

Thats just stupid. Greedy fuckers. I'll make more then that once I'm done school but still.

[Ridgeback]

I took the chemistry degree route as well for what turns out to be a complete waste of time finacially. oh well, looks like i'm going to take a 2 week LGV course and become a petrol tanker driver

[Sir Brian]

I took the chemistry degree route as well for what turns out to be a complete waste of time finacially. oh well, looks like i'm going to take a 2 week LGV course and become a petrol tanker driver

lmao. even a course, to drive a 7.5 tonne lorry, (one of the shorter ones, think Sainsbury's home delivery vehicles rather than their warehouse vehicles) takes the best part of a week and costs over £1000. Secondly, i should imagine these are people who are at the top of the industry, who have an exceptional record working for lesser shittier companies.

I do get your point Swiss (Y), bear in mind my mum is a Primary School teacher of 30 years experience, who earns not too much over £30k per annum. In my opinion she is rediculously underpaid compared to some jobs, solicitors, office workers, footballers :P, "city wankers". (She could be an overpaid jumped up headteacher, but like many she chooses not to because she loves what she does, TEACHING. (Y)) However, you'v got to understand that in the Private sector this is quite a reasonable wage, Shell paid top dollar to get the top drivers...

I dunno what i'm trying to say really... :hehe:... basically i dont think it's too bad... They COULD be living off OUR EU taxes, like the bastard French farmers... and still protesting... :chainsaw:

[Ridgeback]

so what if it costs £1000 for the course, or £2000 to cover arctics as well - well worth it for the pay increase.

it was also my impression that they were standard drivers but have to learn more health & safety to drive tankers, so not really top of the industry!

[Sir Brian]

so what if it costs £1000 for the course, or £2000 to cover arctics as well - well worth it for the pay increase.

it was also my impression that they were standard drivers but have to learn more health & safety to drive tankers, so not really top of the industry!

Then a course for driving vehicles carrying hazardous materials, i dont wanna sound like a know it all (like i usually do :D) but i work with lads who take such courses, and i should imagine its a lot of investment to get to that level... i would of thought their CVs were top notch, within the industry, to get a job at Shell.

How many £Billions did they make in the first quarter?? :hidey:

[hoos]

That does suck Swiss Miss. I was hoping that you were going to say that Truckers in general were on strike, because the day that comes is the day that gas prices plummet. I hope that the Truckers in America go on strike for one day. You'd see our gas decrease by a $1 a gallon.

Anywho, I sympathize with your anger. It's stupid they believe they deserve a pay raise, but try driving a truck ten hours a day. It kinda sucks (I've done it). Oh and I work 45-50 hours a week and though my pay isn't salary, it would equally roughly $30,000/year. Yeah, that sucks.

[Mikey:)]

The 48 hour week figure includes overtime at a higher rate, so if a driver put in 10 hrs overtime every week they could expect to earn around that figure. The actual figure is disputed with the companies stating a higher figure than the union. Bear in mind also that many deliveries take place during anti social hours and overnight so you would expect a premium wage for that as well as the danger and importance of the job. If only so much debate was sparked over the price of oil. Speculation in the market has pushed up the price per barrel to over 4 times what it was in 2003 (The start of the war in Iraq). The cost of extraction hasn't changed so why are the prices so high? Personally I look towards those who are about to extract 115 billion barrels of oil from Iraq for the answer to that. The greed of tanker drivers pales into insignificance with the greed of those who run the oil companies.

[Sir Brian]

The 48 hour week figure includes overtime at a higher rate, so if a driver put in 10 hrs overtime every week they could expect to earn around that figure. The actual figure is disputed with the companies stating a higher figure than the union. Bear in mind also that many deliveries take place during anti social hours and overnight so you would expect a premium wage for that as well as the danger and importance of the job. If only so much debate was sparked over the price of oil. Speculation in the market has pushed up the price per barrel to over 4 times what it was in 2003 (The start of the war in Iraq). The cost of extraction hasn't changed so why are the prices so high? Personally I look towards those who are about to extract 115 billion barrels of oil from Iraq for the answer to that. The greed of tanker drivers pales into insignificance with the greed of those who run the oil companies.

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_1_75.gif

[XXX]

:snuggle:Well now that you got that off your chest we hope you fell better,

:whistle:(as XXX starts up the vet (8 maybe 9 miles per gallon at most) Wana go for a ride?

[Spork!!!]

Here (Aussie) teh "resources boom" means unskilled workers willing to work and live in remote areas can make (I have seen advertised) $1850 a week, and truck drivers $150 - 180k pa. ($3000-3500/week). I think the standard shift for drivers is 12 hrs on, 12 hrs off for 2 weeks solid, then 2 weeks off.
In contrast, I did 3.5 years uni., have 15 years experience in my field (nursing) and make $1100/week ($60k pa) working full time with responsibility for 30-35 patients and 5 staff..
This creates an interesting situation, where many young people who would previously have gone to uni. are choosing a trade or unskilled but highly paid (for now...) labouring jobs. So much for "the clever country"... I guess if you want to drive a truck and make good $$$, come here. Also, if university places are scarce where you live, ours need more students, so you should come here too.

nb, the mining companies prefer female drivers, they say they are more gentle on the trucks.

[CRAZY JAMAICAN]

yep. i live smack bang in the middle of a mining area,

and Yes i took the trade option of being an electrician in the mines and earning from 90k-180k a yr depending on where your willing to work, it made no sence to go to uni when i could leave school and get a job that pays as well as any uni degree where i live... the only reason i considered uni was to become and electrical or mechanical engineer and then you would be rolling in cash but i would rather be on the tools then sit in an office all day

[Smash Bros]

a few of my relos are truck drivers.

they earn about 180k per year.

and to get in it costs about 2000 to do a few courses and your qualified for it.

now if only i had my license.

[Spork!!!]

DSS paid for a bloke I know to get his HR license, but he qualified for special assistance because of his long term unemployment.

Crazy, I'm a little jealous of you. If I were young and single (or just single) I'd certainly be trying for my little slice of the "resource boom". Taking the trade option most deffo. a smart move, even when the minings done, companies will still pay an industrial sparky pretty well.