Tradesmen Prices

[DanP]

I don't think our senior constables are much better off, either, and they risk being shot. :eek:

I am almost the top increment for a Senior Constable and I earn $28 an hour before allowances. $31 p/h with allowances going on last years pay. Enough to face someone with a gun? I think not. (I have done it, it's not nice)

The reason that you percieve that the nurses have a hissy fit is because you only ever hear about it when they are asking for more, during enterprise bargaining. Then you have to look like you've got holes in your socks or the govt won't give you any more.

Dan

[MathewA]

Mathew, Ive just noticed youre in Canada. I think in your country youll find that nurses get paid a whole lot more than they do here in Australia and New Zealand.

Nope in BC they start at about 22/hour and peak at 35/hour, and BC is the best or second best pay for nurses in Canukistan. Someone here said nurses start at 30/hour is that true.

[MathewA]

Gidday Nic,

- badly thought out rosters...often home from a late shift at 11.30pm and out the door for an early shift at 5.30 next morning. In most states not letting a worker get at least 8 hours continuous sleep between shifts is against the law.
- absurd nurse to patient ratios. One nurse looking after 5 patients in an ICU ward.
- being expected to lift heavy patients by herself. Oh yes the hospital has a great OHS policy that states that two nurses are required to lift a patient with the use of a lifting frame. Trouble is the staffing levels on a shift a so pitifully low assigning two nurses to lift a patient is impossible.
- antequated equipment. The hospital is too stingey to buy in equipment that reduces the risk of needle stick injuries when handling syringes and IV needles. My wife has had 3 needle stick injuries in the last 3 years......
- a base pay rate of circa $30 an hour. Pitiful for someone with a Masters degree and over 20 years of experience. If it wasnt for the penalty rates during the weekend my wife would have quit along time ago.
- often has to work with agency staff who receive no orientation before arriving at the hospital. My wife has to deal with her patient duties as well as continuously monitor 2-3 agency staff.

Starting to rant here but you get the general picture.

Why is she still there if its that bad? Is she looking for other work?

[MathewA]

I am almost the top increment for a Senior Constable and I earn $28 an hour before allowances. $31 p/h with allowances going on last years pay. Enough to face someone with a gun? I think not. (I have done it, it's not nice)

The reason that you percieve that the nurses have a hissy fit is because you only ever hear about it when they are asking for more, during enterprise bargaining. Then you have to look like you've got holes in your socks or the govt won't give you any more.

Dan

You'll like this one then. In the late 90s I looked at being a conservation officer here in British Columbia. At that time they were the best armed law enforcement officers. They could carry what ever side arm they deemed appropriate, 357, 45, 9mm, 10mm what ever they wanted. Regular cops were still restricted to using the useless 38 specials.

Starting pay was 12/hour and everyone you approach is armed with a high powered rifle and you're on your own out in the middle of nowhere - decided it wasn't for me.

[Sturdee]

Enough to face someone with a gun? I think not. (I have done it, it's not nice)

So have I mate, and yes staring into the shaking eyes of a drug crazy holding a sawn of shotgun at my stomach whilst robbing the money I was taking to the bank isn't nice.

No amount of money is worth that.


Peter.

[bitingmidge]

Regular cops were still restricted to using the useless 38 specials.

???

Bet they won all the knife-fights!

P

[DanP]

Regular cops were still restricted to using the useless 38 specials.

We still use em. :mad: And still will be for some time yet, Mrs Chief doesn't like Semi Autos. :mad: :mad: :mad:

No amount of money is worth that.

Yep. At least I had the tools to answer the threat. And NO. I didn't shoot him, although I would have been justified in doing so.

Dan

[Grunt]

Having said this $35/hour base pay does seem low considering the risks involved (contagious diseases, shiftwork, seeing death and suffering).

The base pay in Victoria for a first year nurse full-time with a university degree is $17.40 an hour. After 5 years they'll get around $22 per hour. Casual rates go up to $35 an hour. Pretty poor wages really.

[silentC]

Hmmm. What about:
- Medicare levy;
- Private health insurance;
- 30% subsidy on private health insurance;
- Federal and state taxes spent on public hospitals, clinics, rehabilitiations centers;
- PBS subsidised drugs;
- Workcover levy;
- Compulsory third party insurance;
- Charitable donations;
- Federal and state funding for medical education and research?

Yes and we b!tch and moan about every cent of it. Then people complain because they have to wait 2 years for an operation. Meanwhile we happily fork out to get our dogs washed and our lawns mowed.

[Guy]

I'll add something to this I charge out for carpentry $40 hour it costs me $100 per week in fuel, $120 month in public liability Insurance, $100 a week in advertising , Mobile approx $30 add wear and tear to vechile and i estimate it costs me approx $300 a week before i have any income. I probably am productive for 60 -75% of the week the rest is doing quotes chasing up people who promised the cheque is in the mail so at the end of the week i can pay my mortgage and other bills.
When i dont have work it still costs me and i think i may as well throw that $300 out the window.
Fortunately for me i can fall back on to other work.

But what i think is so dumb is that Telstra charge $150 for a new cable run in your house, a sparky will charge the same but when i say $100 per point i get laughed at, had a pleasent argument with a woman a few weeks back. She reckond that sparkies know more about telephine cabling than I, i had to explain that i had spent near on 20years in the telecomms industry doing cabling and terminations of cables. Add to that my City and Guilds in electrical instalation ( im a sparky in the UK) Bsc in electrical &electronic engineering, Mba in Business Admin, now doing a Msc in Communications systems. She still insisted i knew nothing
Guy

[journeyman Mick]

Gemi,
buy yourself a pipe wrench (stillsons) and a pipe cutter. Then all you need to know to be a plumber is: Hot on the left, cold on the right, s##t flows down hill and pay day is Friday! :eek: Sorry to any plumbers out there, standard chippies joke about plumbers.

Mick

[AlexS]

Gemi,
buy yourself a pipe wrench (stillsons) and a pipe cutter. Then all you need to know to be a plumber is: Hot on the left, cold on the right, s##t flows down hill and pay day is Friday! :eek: Sorry to any plumbers out there, standard chippies joke about plumbers.

Mick

Good to see your sense of humour is still running well Mick.

Water comes in drips & drops
And sometimes in a bucket,
But when it's really p!ssing down
Hydrographers say...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
:Aaarg...
.
.
.
.....well, we'd better go & measure it."

[gemi_babe]

Just might have to take that advice Mick.

I never recieved that phone call an hour later... another nite without a shower, just a small bath and couldn't wash my hair.

I should go to Mitre 10 tomorrow and put the pipe cutter and the stillsons on the plumbers account and when he calls, tell him that I did his job for him

[Dean]

Charge them for your wasted time waiting for them Seems to be the latest trend. At the very least they could call you out of courtesy if they are not going to show up on time, or at all.

[Grunt]

At the very least they could call you out of courtesy if they are not going to show up on time, or at all.

Funniest post I've read in a long time.