I'm not one for bickering when people are in need but this one is tricky.
Those guys to real dangerous work. If it's "off the clock" and they get hurt there's no workers comp for them to help w/ the injuries.
If they work for the utility company then it's mandatory OT wages as well as their regular pay. So while I can see the guys on staff w/ that utility being covered, all the volunteers coming in would be just that volunteers.
The travesty is that FEMA should be picking up these volunteer guys like private contractors and covering them but they're not.
Yeah, it's better they stop and put the spotlight on this. Non doubt they want to continue but their families need to eat too. And like you said that's really dangerous work.
I was a lineman for years until my body couldn’t take it anymore. Storm work you could do 72hrs straight while catching a bit of sleep in the front seat of the bucket truck while waiting on parts exc. it’s grueling and dangerous, we would go until the hallucinations started setting in and it’s nap time. I would see rabbits on the road running around and I would think “ok, bring it in, everyone take a break get some shuteye.” My buddy said it sounded like Ranger school accept your 40ft in the air, rear easement was the worst because you had to climb everything and work around downed trees as they were off the road and less of a priority. The guy’s I worked with were tough as nails. You would love to go to a hotel but sometimes there’s no hotel left to stay in. The government is always slow on paying, but this is something different, malevolence at the highest order.
We could crowdfund payments to them and then send their employers a bill (FEMA?)
And of course they will not pay, and so we put a lien on fema facilities and if they don't pay we can have courts seize fema facilities and give to us. Then we go in take their data and open source it under FOIA
I was looking at lineman training videos online, and the gear they use to climb poles. Fascinating, wish I had done it as a young man, but still willing to give a go at 49. I wish we had never given Ukraine 1 god damn dime, those azov jews put all the healthy young slavs in the meat grinder.
Back in the day you would start as a ground hand and then someone would show up hungover and next thing you know they’re kicking you ass up a pole. I thought I got yelled at in the Army, the military was cake compared to that shark tank. Many wouldn’t last till lunchtime before they said “F this shit” and disappeared. We were contractor’s that would do a lot of traveling for big buildouts, the utility company outfit’s were more structured less harsh.
My nieces husband is a lineman. He was sent to NC for several weeks before the Fla. hurricane. He was making 1200 a day for doing nothing. He kept complaining the FEMA would not let them do anything leaving them on standby. When the hurricane hit Fla, his group left NC for Fla.
I don't know how it works here when we get hit hard, but we always have hundreds of linemen after a hurricane. They bust their asses but they get paid. We do have fees added onto the electric bill to cover some hurricane damage. Maybe they need to ask Entergy in southern Louisiana or the power company in Florida how they manage to pay lineman from all over besides their own? I don't get that.
I'm not one for bickering when people are in need but this one is tricky.
Those guys to real dangerous work. If it's "off the clock" and they get hurt there's no workers comp for them to help w/ the injuries.
If they work for the utility company then it's mandatory OT wages as well as their regular pay. So while I can see the guys on staff w/ that utility being covered, all the volunteers coming in would be just that volunteers.
The travesty is that FEMA should be picking up these volunteer guys like private contractors and covering them but they're not.
There are no volunteers in that industry. They ALL get paid very, very well to work storm seasons. There's something else at play here.
Werd
All very good points
Yeah, it's better they stop and put the spotlight on this. Non doubt they want to continue but their families need to eat too. And like you said that's really dangerous work.
I was a lineman for years until my body couldn’t take it anymore. Storm work you could do 72hrs straight while catching a bit of sleep in the front seat of the bucket truck while waiting on parts exc. it’s grueling and dangerous, we would go until the hallucinations started setting in and it’s nap time. I would see rabbits on the road running around and I would think “ok, bring it in, everyone take a break get some shuteye.” My buddy said it sounded like Ranger school accept your 40ft in the air, rear easement was the worst because you had to climb everything and work around downed trees as they were off the road and less of a priority. The guy’s I worked with were tough as nails. You would love to go to a hotel but sometimes there’s no hotel left to stay in. The government is always slow on paying, but this is something different, malevolence at the highest order.
We could crowdfund payments to them and then send their employers a bill (FEMA?)
And of course they will not pay, and so we put a lien on fema facilities and if they don't pay we can have courts seize fema facilities and give to us. Then we go in take their data and open source it under FOIA
I was looking at lineman training videos online, and the gear they use to climb poles. Fascinating, wish I had done it as a young man, but still willing to give a go at 49. I wish we had never given Ukraine 1 god damn dime, those azov jews put all the healthy young slavs in the meat grinder.
Back in the day you would start as a ground hand and then someone would show up hungover and next thing you know they’re kicking you ass up a pole. I thought I got yelled at in the Army, the military was cake compared to that shark tank. Many wouldn’t last till lunchtime before they said “F this shit” and disappeared. We were contractor’s that would do a lot of traveling for big buildouts, the utility company outfit’s were more structured less harsh.
That's the power company's fault that those linemen aren't getting paid, not the White House. Lay blame where it's due.
The power companies have been making year-over-year profits for decades now. I'm sure they can afford to pay the overtime and per diem for these guys.
Something else is causing this. Whether it's a cheap political stunt, or something else, there's definitely shenanigans with this.
2024 - The year NC Voters voted 100% for President Trump!!!
My nieces husband is a lineman. He was sent to NC for several weeks before the Fla. hurricane. He was making 1200 a day for doing nothing. He kept complaining the FEMA would not let them do anything leaving them on standby. When the hurricane hit Fla, his group left NC for Fla.
I don't know how it works here when we get hit hard, but we always have hundreds of linemen after a hurricane. They bust their asses but they get paid. We do have fees added onto the electric bill to cover some hurricane damage. Maybe they need to ask Entergy in southern Louisiana or the power company in Florida how they manage to pay lineman from all over besides their own? I don't get that.