Why Contract Personnel Don’t Return
Jul 16th, 2008 by Nick
Here’s a list of reasons from folks in ’06 [Word .doc] about why people don’t want to return to The Program (even if they do return to The Program). At that time The Program was concerned with high turnover, which is now not so important, as RPSC is at the end of their decade-long contract with NSF.
Few contract personnel mention the cold or the weather as a factor in why they don’t want to return.
My biggest reason for possibly not coming back is our supposed safety program. We do inherently dangerous things out in the field by virtue of the fact that the environment alone can be dangerous. Environment is not something you can control. Helicopters are big dangerous machines, and while I intend to work safely around them, they are dangerous and I could be hurt. I am terrified of ever having to go to medical even for a small injury. I think that if you do a dangerous job and do it as safely as possible I should be supported if something happens. I should feel like I will be taken care of. Instead, I know that no matter what happens it will somehow be my fault and I will be deemed unsafe with an unsafe camp.
Having spent a short amount of time at McMurdo last season, I can personally attest to the caste system, the poor leadership in many areas, the mistrust of contract employees who are, for the most part treated like children. The day I redeployed, those who were leaving with me on the C17 were forced to stand and wait for hours until the VIPS showed up, were driven right to the door and then stood around getting their last shots of things, while those of us who were just the workers watched and waited and watched and waited. All people are created equal, except that the constitution probably doesn’t really extend to those working on government type contracts in far away places, we are nothing and replicable.
Question…if we have to pay taxes although we are technically on New Zealand territory then why is it that we are not subject to the labor laws of the nation or of Colorado? This working 54 hours or more, without compensation at the going rate in the US, which is overtime, runs counter to my understanding of labor law. I’m all for paying taxes but I am also for the protection of workers under federal and most state labor laws as well. Or does NSF/Raytheon get to pick and choose?
The attitude of my supervisor was very condescending, arbitrary and in some cases, downright mean-spirited. This person, liked by most in the social scene, was inept as a supervisor. This person was very insecure and jealous of others and a whiner to boot. It was pathetic!
I have one tale that really sums up the bureaucracy at its most absurd: The scissors story goes like this…the woman hired to cut hair had carpel tunnel, so she was shipped away, and took the scissors she brought with her. The call was made to those left to help out and I inquired. Could I work during regular work hours? I don’t think so as I have a job, but the salon is used by massage therapists after regular work hours. Well, I could take some time off from my lunch break. Oh one last problem…you need to have your own scissors. What? Yeah the ones from the company disappeared 6 months ago and they are on order. But a plane arrives 2-3 times a week from New Zealand, are there no scissors to be had in all of New Zealand? Oh..umm..well it has to go through the Denver office and it’s on order. Just another fine example of JIT (something I had to learn about at the oh so important orientation in Denver, a bureaucratic response to lowering the human footprint). When something is needed, it is ordered and it gets there JIT…JUST IN TIME…for what? This concept would work almost in LA or Denver, places intersected with highways, railroads, airports, etc…But Antarctica? Who the hell thought this one up? Was it on a ride during the solstice picnic sponsored by the company for the workers in Denver while the reason for their being at the company, the support workers labor 54 hour weeks without proper compensation and are now subject to cuts like no cheese, protective glasses or long underwear?
I called the states and had a fine pair of scissors in 9 days. When I left I took them with me too.
What would happen if the workers united and did not return like lemmings to tough conditions with poor pay, unfair labor practices, unreasonable expectations, poor leadership, more cut backs while those in the cushy office jobs far, far away make decisions they are unqualified or uninformed to make? What would happen if we all just said no to more of the same? How else will it change? I have some management experience and things could be very different, but unless something drastic happens to call attention to the reality of the working conditions on the ice, it will just go along, business as usual for a long time to come.
Workers unite, you are losing your underwear and cheese and who knows what else!!!
I heard a rumor that you were asked to take down some of the material from your website by the powers that be. I noticed that some of the other blogs’ owners have removed some content to do objections from these same powers that be. Care to comment?
On Midwinter’s Day I was called into a teleconference with the Program Director regarding this blog.
He said, among other things, that it “cast the company in a bad light”.
There is an implied suggestion by the Program Director that simply by writing about problems, one is thus making the problems. Whereas I see that there are problems, and that then I am writing about them.
I commented on this further under the “Midwinter’s Day” post.
I can’t speak for other blog owners.
In my case I filled out an employment application that asked if I was available and willing to work 54 hours/week for the pay offered – or something to that general effect AND when interviewed, I was asked the same and agreed to same. It was made very clear to me BEFORE I accepted the position what the conditions were and I’m not pissed off at the company for “making” me work 54 hours. Solution: Don’t agree to the conditions if they’re not acceptable to you. Sure…we all want to make more money, but the fact remains, if one accepts a job offer with certain terms and conditions it is a reasonable expectation that that person should live up to those expectations.
Many of those interviewed on this blog and many I spoke with talked of the work conditions and morale problem. One doesn’t know going in what to expect first time around. I too agreed to work 54 hours, but when I arrived I found that I was expected to occasionally work more than 54 hours with no additional compensation. Many others were working without the proper tools (like plumbers who were not given basics such as teflon tape). Some departments were under staffed and the work load on staff was unbelievable. In certain areas, people were working 10 to 15 hours longer than the 54 contracted and got no compensation. It is difficult to work 54 hours a week when one is treated like a child, is told to work longer hours without pay and the few things that are available on the off hours are increasingly cut back. That is exploitation.
People who apply to work in Antarctica go for several reasons. But after arriving, the reality of the long work week sets in, morale plummets; the rumor mill goes into overdrive. Many folks I talked to felt very undervalued. I hope whoever gets the next contract will have the good sense to look at morale as a contributing factor to poor workmanship and safety and make some changes that will make for a better run program.
It is my understanding that the galley workers under Raytheon had a very high repetitive injury record so Raytheon contracted out to Nana Services to lower the mother Raytheon worker injury record and thus look better on paper. Nana Services made several changes to the work week for the galley staff rotation and work schedule, things improved greatly. Was that so hard to figure out?
There are models that would work far more efficiently and effectively. There is a model of working 6 days and having two off. The work force is broken into 3 rotations. That way there are always people on the job. I am not sure that Raytheon or the former contractor even tried another model.
The best decisions are made when they are closer to the work being done, this is accepted throughout the business world. True story…a project manager, who had a perfectly good solution to a construction problem had to wait 7 weeks for the OK to do what he had originally intended to do to compensate for a mistake made in ordering the base for an office trailer. That’s a long time to wait on a project when the season is shorter than in the states.
The new electric generators were installed incorrectly. Workers on the job tried to point out the problems in the drafts, but were ignored. That one project was 2 ½ years off schedule. When the generator project was almost ready to fly, as the workers followed the specs, it was suddenly realized that the gravity force fuel lines were constructed below the generators. Oops. It is that kind of thing that devalues the work of people who are actually there, see what is happening and could fix the problem without the outrageous amount of red tape and bureaucracy dragging its feet. I’d be willing to bet that the cost overruns due to such ineptitude are huge. The work climate really has to change. Worker protection includes protection from exploitation, and that is what it felt like to too many people down there last season.
In a cost plus contract – failure is a profit center
Dear Mr. Big Dead Place,
The Word document that this article links to is no longer available….I think I know why contract personnel don’t return, but I still want to read the list!
Perhaps as interesting is why we do return, I am guessing that loyalty to Raytheon is not high on the list.
Raytheons resistance to criticism reminds me strongly of certain dictatorships. They will go to great lengths, some of which can be quite threatening, to censor and manipulate what is published, while expending little to no effort to fix the actual problem.
It seems obvious that there is corporate awareness of immoral (not to mention inefficient, inept and just downright inane) management practices, otherwise there would not be such insecurity about the information being published.
If you rescue a pile of kittens from evil children with mallets are you worried about what anyone says? No. You are worried the evil children will turn on you next, but you don’t make excuses for rescuing the kittens or forbid anyone from posting photos or commentary on a blog!
I’ve fixed the link. Thanks for pointing it out.