just a part of a conversation

[reppy007]

I talked to an old buddy a few days ago,he used to work for centerpoint energy,before that ,years ago we worked for HL&P together for a few years,he was let go due to his weight..........some of you know the details about the weight issue they had.........well he worked for a contractor which is NHP and line,setting meters for the utility that he once worked for.......these meter crews were hand picked from the company,if you were a former employee you could run the crews and if not ,you couldnt....but anyway,he told me a couple of weeks ago that they were also let go,which shocked me a bit............if work has slowed down that much here then it must be worse in many more other places,the company is already short handed.........so guess we all wait together for things to pick up,and that may be awhile.........also while walking my dog down the street the other day i noticed a lineman getting out of his pick up,and walking up to the house,at that same time a customer a few doors down walks outside and states that her lights are also off.....so i say to the guy ..transformer huh?.....he knows that i know whats going on, and I ask how is the company treating him...........he says you know better than that..........which means not good at all.We talk a little and he goes on with his business............guess what im trying to say is that ill be the first one to say that id be happy when this slow down in the economy is finally over,not for me ,but for the younger guys that are giving it their all and actually trying to make a decent living....Im sure Poot can testify that when things get this slow in houston ,it has to be bad.but lets hope that things get better sooner more than later.

[Pootnaigle]

Ummmm lottsa things are affected by the economy but I dont see a utility being affected much. After all they have the same customers year after year, add new ones every day, and sell the same product today using the same infrastructure they did 20 yrs ago.They are quick to say that we are now in a global economy but my question would be what if anything do they sell or buy globally? If the summers are hotter the demand is greater and if the winters are colder the demand is greater.......... Nothing global about that..
I think the driving factor in reductions of the workforce is due to 2 things. Corporate greed and accounting tricks. They allow the infrastructure to deteriorate ( no maintenance requires less people) and when it does fail they simply wait for the next storm and write it off as storm damage.
The wages paid at the top of every utility are way out of line and a great many execs have a golden parachute to insure they will continue to be taken care of in the event of a merger or takeover.That comes at a price......... so if they dont hire 3 guys they can afford to increase The executive VPs salary and if they lay off a few more they can cover the costs of his stock options.
And lets look at how their budgets work. As they near the end of each fiscal year every manager looks at his budget and he may find that he is as much as 25% under budget but knowing he can still comply with it he will spend most of it because he knows if he comes in under this year that same budget will be cut next year.
Its actually in their best interest to treat employees badly a few will move on and unburden them of vacation benefits, sick leave, etc.very few of them realize that if you kick the dog enough ,that even though you feed him he may decide to bite you. Corporate thinking is pennywise but dollar dumb.

[reppy007]

I had to smile while reading that one Poot,well put and understanding,you do have a way with words,it is true what you have said,kind of a sad thing they are doing to the working class.nice hearing from you again.

[Swamprat]

I enjoy readin you guys posts,
It's hard sometimes.

But I honestly wish you both would learn to ...Space,
instead of just running your posts in one big Glob of text.

It's really hard on the eyes.
Seriously, were you not taught... how to Paragraph your thoughts when you went to school?

hummnmmmmmmm................or is this the new acceptably "norm" of conversation.

[LostArt]

Oh good grief Swamp. Leave the guys alone, will ya? As I tell the Boss, "It ain't always about you dear."

[T-Man]

Poot, you have many good points ,but I know as a trainer in the last few years before I retired our new class schedule slowed down. Meaning we were not putting more linemen in the ranks. Even on this site there were new guys crying to get to work. . .So there was some effect. No new customer construction. The other end is up here the Public Service Commish had our company rebuild a certian amount of new line per year if we wanted a rate increase and we were on schedule when the down turn hit, so there was less reconstruction work to do. Now this year I hear they are adding 25 new linehands which is two classes. We used to have 4 new classes a year back 10 years ago. But things are looking up in any event.

Sorry Swamp, If I ran all that together, but if'n ya complain I sig LA on ya. . . .

[Pootnaigle]

Ummmmmmm there iz 2 kinds of Public Utility commissions......... elected and appointed. Both have a major impact on their respective states utilities. In Texas ours are appointed and they ( In My opinion) dont do a very good job.The main issues should be service reliability and rates. They tend to focus on the rates and ignore the reliability, until it gets really really bad and they are forced to look at it.
Personally I bleve an elected PUC would prolly do a better job of regulating these corporate monsters if they didnt allow them selves to be bought by the very monsters they are spozed to regulate.
But you make a good point in that they also have an impact on manpower. I just wish they would force the Maintenance issue and disallow some of the fraudulent claims made by almost every utility

[Highplains Drifter]

I talked to an old buddy a few days ago,he used to work for centerpoint energy,before that ,years ago we worked for HL&P together for a few years,he was let go due to his weight..........some of you know the details about the weight issue they had.........well he worked for a contractor which is NHP and line,setting meters for the utility that he once worked for.......these meter crews were hand picked from the company,if you were a former employee you could run the crews and if not ,you couldnt....but anyway,he told me a couple of weeks ago that they were also let go,which shocked me a bit............if work has slowed down that much here then it must be worse in many more other places,the company is already short handed.........so guess we all wait together for things to pick up,and that may be awhile.........also while walking my dog down the street the other day i noticed a lineman getting out of his pick up,and walking up to the house,at that same time a customer a few doors down walks outside and states that her lights are also off.....so i say to the guy ..transformer huh?.....he knows that i know whats going on, and I ask how is the company treating him...........he says you know better than that..........which means not good at all.We talk a little and he goes on with his business............guess what im trying to say is that ill be the first one to say that id be happy when this slow down in the economy is finally over,not for me ,but for the younger guys that are giving it their all and actually trying to make a decent living....Im sure Poot can testify that when things get this slow in houston ,it has to be bad.but lets hope that things get better sooner more than later.

Maybe you are looking for work in the wrong places, Everyone I know is working seven days a week and have been for almost over a year. Work does cycle up and down and usually when it dries up in one spot it picks up somewhere else in the country. If you look you will find work, wait a minute……….I think one of the members here is advertising for a lineman and apprentice. I have been waiting for him to place and add with Byron and help support his play ground.


Cherryland Cooperative.....http://www.cecelec.com/content/job-openings




.
You might pm Duck he needs a lineman and I know there are lots of members here wanting an apprenticeship. Good Luck.

[Swamprat]

Oh good grief Swamp. Leave the guys alone, will ya? As I tell the Boss, "It ain't always about you dear."

Phhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...........

[rob8210]

You sure are right about the issue of maintenance, Poot, even though there are rules in place about what gets maintained and how often, it seems to slip through the cracks in favor of capitol work plus the fact that the utility guys don't really want to do it because its too boring, but it must be done. If it was done as required I think there would be enough work for utility and contract crews to keep busy. Its the same here, too, when one part of the country slows down another part gets busy. Hey Swampy, PHHHHTTTT.