Originally Posted by
MD11
I guess I am old and cynical... $43 is not enough for a skilled mech. For UPS you need five years turbine exp before they will consider you. Two years to earn the ticket plus five equal seven years of training / apprentice to get in the door... another five years to reach top of the scale.. twelve years total. $43 is not enough. I am sorry, but mechanics are very guilty of selling themselves short. I was a regional pilot and airline mech for many years so I have done the low pay myself. My first airline job paid $6/hr. Do you think the pax would have been ok with a $6/hr mech R&R'ing an engine on their aircraft (first flight of the day)?
$43 is not enough!
I thought 43 an hour was base for all mechs.... thats how I read it anyways.... Makes sense if it is the top of the pay scale.
I've done the low paying job as well, 13 an hour to overhaul the big Rolls Royce engines. Luckily I am about as multifaceted as a Mechanic can be. I am qualified to work on just about any turbine helicopter in the industry, and I also hold the Maintenance officer position for a local fixed wing flying club. I hold an FCC Avionics license with Radar endorsement. I also have nearly 1700 hours of flight time as a Crew Chief/Flight Engineer on helicopters, with about 1/3rd of that being 1 to 2 hour test flights at a time. And as I said before, Im a PPL progressing to Comercial all on my own dime. I broke 100 g's in 09 and I'm only 27 years old.
I agree a contract for employment would be nice, but honestly where in any industry can you find that kind of contract in the states. I currently live and work in Europe, and have spent most of the last 2 years here. They have rules and contracts here, they give 6 weeks vacation, and 2 weeks sick time, and paid medical to all employees, but this comes at a cost of 50% of their income going to German taxes.
I dont agree with holding out and striking so they can have a lifetime contract. No one else in the States gets this privilege, what makes them so special?