Are all tradsemen bastards

[ernknot]

Al,
Isn't there some form of arbritation available where you don't have to front a beak? Maybe get in touch with legal aid and they may be able to refer you.

[ozwinner]

Have you had a chance to speak, personally, with a senior manager of the building firm? If you haven't, I'd suggest it's worth a go, just to explain your position, and maybe work out deal. Invite him/her to a site and show him/her what you do, and why you're worth your rates.

Yes, it was the building manager who told me I should have been told that the rates were lowered.

They are all crooks, they get paid every week, so whats the problem?

Al :mad:

[ian]

I couldnt agree more, but getting the money from them is the problem.
They have this person on a desk that is told to pay no more than X, so its imposible to get them to pay up.

Al

Al
investigate issuing an order to wind up the company because it can not pay its debts. If they can't pay you the director's are trading while insolvent a big no no.

Last time I heard of wind-up action being taken to recover payment it was by someone like you who took on one of Sydney's TV stations. The TV station promptly paid up, and the cost was something like <$200 which was also receovered.

$900 per '000 seems reasonable, I've heard of costs as high as $2/brick.
It's supply and demand, offering $800/'000 implies that the building industry has slowed down and other brickies are looking for work.


ian

[jedi]

Dude, are you telling me you earn $800 a day, less overheads?
What overheads do you have???!!! Pay a labourer $150 per day, a hand full of tools and a mixer and barrow, that's it!

I earn $14.29 per hour as a Cabinet maker. building the highest quality furniture for very rich Interior Designers on the Goldie. Come on buddy, most of us here just earn a modest wage.

[echnidna]

Sounds like a lot, but is it? - Not at all if you think about it.

If it rains - a bricky no can work
then theres real windy weather or in the sun in summer

Most brickies pack it in early in life as its heavy hard work

[ian]

Jedi
you can't compare wages with contract work.
while you're being paid $14.29/hr your employer is putting aside
9% for super,
~9% for annual leave
~8% for public holidays and sick days
~6% for worker's comp
~5% for state taxes
and probably some others I've forgotten
and not to forget the 10% GST on the lot
so if you get $14/hr it costs your employer at least $21

Ozwinner has to cover his own sick leave, injury insurance, holidays, slow times, pay his off sider including all the extra costs like your employer pays you, pay an accountant to do his tax, etc and, depending on who he contracts to, even the bricks and mortar.
If an employee makes a mistake and have to redo something they get paid, contractors don't.


ian

[bsrlee]

Think they might get upset if you went around and 'repossesed' the work you have done?

[Wongo]

I can do it for 50c per brick if you like the rustic look.

[Harry72]

Tis sad how a cabinet maker only gets barely $15p/h, considering they charge an average of $15K for a decent kitchen.
Even with adding up all the overheads $21p/h aint that flash either... considering an factory shiftworker gets around 20~25 p/h without adding the overheads!

[tameriska]

Dude, are you telling me you earn $800 a day, less overheads?
What overheads do you have???!!! Pay a labourer $150 per day, a hand full of tools and a mixer and barrow, that's it!

I earn $14.29 per hour as a Cabinet maker. building the highest quality furniture for very rich Interior Designers on the Goldie. Come on buddy, most of us here just earn a modest wage.

$14.29 an hour? That sucks, being a checkout chick is about the same p/h rate.

[journeyman Mick]

I can do it for 50c per brick if you like the rustic look.

Is that the rustic look, or the archealogical ruins look?


Jedi,
as others have pointed out you can't compare wages with self employment or contracting rates. If you started your own cabinet shop would you still work for $14.29 p/h? I don't think so

Mick

[ian]

Jedi,
as others have pointed out you can't compare wages with self employment or contracting rates. If you started your own cabinet shop would you still work for $14.29 p/h? I don't think so

Mick

Jedi
as a rough calculation, to get about $14.30 per hour in their pocket, a contractor has to charge about $32/hr

ian

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Damn you lot!

Reading this, I just had to sit down and work out my average hourly rate for the last 3 months and... ~$8ph! :eek: Worse, this isn't including travel time/expenses, etc., etc. Just as well I love my work, else I'd have nasty words with the boss! And they tell me it's not a good sign when you argue with yourself.

Mind you, once the weather clears up and silly season starts, it more than makes up for the lean times. [phew!] Just another week or three... [fingers Xed]

[jow104]

I notice there are a lot of BMW's, Audi's, Mercs and 4x4 around these days,
So,
What hourly rate do you need to buy and run one of those?

[Schtoo]

As much as I dislike to say this Jedi, you have no &%$^$ idea.

You are working in a reasonably clean place, that doesn't move about, is always open and working, etc, etc.

On site, it's clean sometimes. More often than not yer up to your asre in mud, covered in crud, baking or freezing, etc, etc.

It's always moving about. One week, wake up at 5:30 or so and get going for the 60 minute drive on the other side of town to start at 7. Next week, up at 6:30 to drive the 5 minutes just down the road. Not mentioning the 10 hours saturdays and sundays nor the odd 4 am start.

It rains, woopee, you get to go home so you can rest up because you have to haul tail to get the job that shoulda been done yesterday tomorrow, because it's ^%$%$ raining today.

Something needs to get done, and it's 40+ outside, stiff cheese, you still get to do it because it needs to be done now.

Oh yes, the per hour rate is very good on site. You think anyone would be so &%$%$^% stoopid to do it for any less by choice?

And that's just a sample of how much fun working on site can be.


Kinda wish I was still at it occasionally.

Instead, I get to drink coffee, speak BS, play with kids and get paid for it at a ridiculous hourly rate.


Al, I have no advise I can give ya that I can claim works other than find someone else to work for and give those dimwits the flick ASAP.

Otherwise, you might wind up like one of the painters we used to work for. Still can't work out how he got by after losing $750,000 when the builder went under.

I can't work out how the heck you can throw that much worth of paint on the wall in such a short time that you don't decide to call in the dogs...