future of AMEs in Canada

tica · Post by **tica** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 12:31 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBeVai_fknE

gli77 · Post by **gli77** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 6:19 pm

Odd that someone would title this as the future of AME's in Canada, considering the previous post about this had to be taken down because of the strong language against AC mech's.

I also recall reading another poster saying that Cascade is paying $39/hour contract which is a 45minute drive from YVR. Yet the guy in the video claims it is very tough for him to find another job and he may have to move all the way across the country. Stop whining.

tincanflyer · Post by **tincanflyer** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 10:20 pm

Its is tough to find another job where he can get away with doing nothing.

ourkid2000 · Post by **ourkid2000** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 8:10 am

These job cuts affect all of us aircraft mechanics. Across the board, people will be affected. Cuts like this have a domino effect on the industry as a whole.

We should be supportive of these people and fight the outsourcing issue in general. Outsourcing is going to kill our livelyhood and probably cause accidents.

Its not too often you hear of 700 people losing their jobs at once in Canada.

jsmetalbashers · Post by **jsmetalbashers** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 9:41 am

Ya, 700 is a ton in this industry, but I don't think that it will affect the rest of us as much as we think. AC has always been on its own in the industry and lots of the guys that work there started their trades their and will never work anywhere else. They would not be able to handle it, think of all the sh*t that we put up with, those guys would just stand back and be like,'' umm... yeah... I don't think so.''
I do feel for these guys and there families, but you can only stand there with your hand in the cookie jar for so long. When the company is trying to compete in the MRO market it needs more production from its people. My 2 cents.

KISS_MY_TCAS · Post by **KISS_MY_TCAS** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 9:53 am

The only thing they are afraid of is that they will have to work to earn their income. Jobs are plentiful coast to coast.

I agree the thread title is off. AC techs never have been, nor ever will be the future of mtce in Canada. Unless you count the fact that their high-wage-low-productivity union mentality is the driving force behind outsourcing overseas, thankfully there are very few shops like theirs in this country or we would all be doomed for sure.

ourkid2000 · Post by **ourkid2000** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 10:01 am

Plentiful?

Please.....come on man, get real. I haven't been able to keep an AME job for layoffs!

KISS_MY_TCAS · Post by **KISS_MY_TCAS** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 4:33 pm

Ever try looking for work somewhere other than the city you live in?

gli77 · Post by **gli77** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 5:53 pm

Ourkid2000;

".....fight the outsourcing issue in general. Outsourcing is going to kill our livelyhood and probably cause accidents."

Really?

So we should fight against Helione, Cascade, KFC, Avmax, Field east & west, Spar, CHS, Skyservice, MC2, Kitchener Aero, Innotech and any other Canadian company that has done work for foreign companies? No more C checks, D checks, Avionics Mod's, special mission mods, etc. All that work should be banned from coming to Canadian companies?

Should Borek, Voyageuer, CHC, VIH, Bombardier etc. not be allowed to send their tech's overseas for work? You figure these companies should only use local hires?

It is pathetic when a union job is lost it receives attention in the press. I have no sympathy for these AC techs. They were protected from the world that the rest of us know by the union and now reality strikes. As it was pointed out the MRO business demands productivity, and while it may be debatable, I think the general consesus is that AC union workers are anything but productive.

It is possible that these 700 layoffs may affect the rest of us in terms of industry wages, but I see no reason why they should have my support. They enjoyed the highest wages and the best working conditions for years. If they were not smart enough to realize that economics runs the world and that maybe low productivity may catch up with them, then too bad. It is an absolute struggle in the rest of the aviation business and I have no sympathy for a group that enjoyed the best and now may set the rest of us back.

Human Factor · Post by **Human Factor** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 7:01 pm

You can't paint all of the AC maintenance guys with the same brush. Many try to work hard only to be held back or threatened by their higher seniority co-workers and union shop-stewards.

I have a friend who did his apprenticeship at AC and hated it because he wasn't allowed to actually work. I've been told many stories of maintenance workers waiting in the lounge for hours because they were not allowed to move a wire that was in the way of the component they needed to change. You see, only the avionics guys could touch electrical components, wires included. Hundreds of billable hours are wasted weekly as mechanics wait for their 'union brothers' to remove panels and interior pieces so they can access their work areas because they aren't permitted to "steal work from their brothers".

It's these ridiculous union rules and the old-school dead-wood workers at AC that's killing the company. There are plenty of fresh new faces running around (at least there were before the lay-offs) AC that are eager to work hard but can't because of the "old boys club" and the smothering union.

As for my friend, he quit AC and left aircraft maintenance for good as the company culture destroyed any interest he had in the profession.