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OT: The News Thread

MindzEye said:
Well...I'm technically an Albertan for tax purposes, as are most North Gander (Fort Mac) residents....but we're not really Albertans. **** me, we work a lot of hours. I pull 84 hour weeks easily, and this is scaled back now that I'm in management.

Tied for 3rd, and that with a pile of importated labour in the oil industry dragging that provincial average up for them.
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I'm not denying you work that much, but how is that really possible on a long term basis. That is 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. That is unsustainable on a long term basis as it will kill most people. Hell, I think I work too much and maybe I put in 45-50.
 
Well, most people do it on a rotation basis that makes it somewhat reasonable. I can't complain too much now, because I work 84 hour weeks, but I only work 26 of them a year.

I used to work a 20/10 though, and regulalry put in 90-100 hour weeks while doing it. That's a bit more in line with the norm out on site, 14/7 10/5, etc....I've got one of the most envied schedules in the industry.

People do it because the money is insane...because a lot of these guys would be working 60-70 hours a week elsewhere and just scraping by.
 
HabsAddict said:
Do you have a handle on what oil patch workers pay in terms of personal income tax? I suspect it's disproportional to their numbers. Does one even make $30k at the gap? Which is peanuts in terms of personal income tax.
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Not off hand, would need to dig. As a proxy, average weekly wages for mining/oil/gas (1,912) were (2011) roughly double the industry average (1,064) in Alberta. http://www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/labor93j-eng.htm

Given progressive tax rates, that would de facto imply disprortionate income tax payment as with any high income occupation/industry. But in terms of gross federal revenues, no other province is even remotely close to Ontario with its nearly 13 million inhabitants. http://www.parl.gc.ca/content/LOP/ResearchPublications/prb0639-e.htm#conclusion
 
lecoqsportif said:
It's very industry specific. The folks who work in seasonal or natural resource extraction industries (and some special projects) log massive hours. Alberta, Sask, and Nfld are the top 3, go figure. And as you say, many of the workers are imports, so obviously place of birth isn't a terribly relevant factor.

But, in macro sense, these are a small numbers when it comes to the overall labour force (conventional oil, nat gas, mining and construction are about 16% in Alberta, and it would be much less elsewhere). A lot more people work for The Gap, Canadian Tire, Speedy Muffler, banks, and in hospitals. Not much difference in weekly hours there...
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You don't think 16% of a workforce, working significantly more hours than the average, doesn't draw the average for the geographic region up some?

That's my point, the myth of the hard working Alberta is just that. It's largely the import labour that runs their oil industry, logging the big hours. Most of us, register in Alberta for tax purposes, and count towards statistics like these as Albertans.
 
HabsAddict said:
Do you have a handle on what oil patch workers pay in terms of personal income tax? I suspect it's disproportional to their numbers. Does one even make $30k at the gap? Which is peanuts in terms of personal income tax.
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Median family income in Wood Buffalo region (Fort Mac) is 167,000 a year.

Reasonable guesstimates could be made working backwards from that number.
 
MindzEye said:
You don't think 16% of a workforce, working significantly more hours than the average, doesn't draw the average for the geographic region up some?

That's my point, the myth of the hard working Alberta is just that. It's largely the import labour that runs their oil industry, logging the big hours. Most of us, register in Alberta for tax purposes, and count towards statistics like these as Albertans.
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Yup, I do. That's why Nfld, Sk and Alta are top 3. Keep in mind, for calculating gap, other provinces aren't at zero per cent. Ontario has the largest metal mining sector, but it's puny re: the overall labour force. I'm sure those guys work major hours and pull down serious coin.

And you said you were 1 on, 1 off? Is that the standard? Coz then, in terms of stats, average weekly hours would be 43, not 86. Though that's one helluva an on week.
 
lecoqsportif said:
Yup, I do. That's why Nfld, Sk and Alta are top 3. Keep in mind, for calculating gap, other provinces aren't at zero per cent. Ontario has the largest metal mining sector, but it's puny re: the overall labour force. I'm sure those guys work major hours and pull down serious coin.

And you said you were 1 on, 1 off? Is that the standard? Coz then, in terms of stats, average weekly hours would be 43, not 86. Though that's one helluva an on week.
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I am, yes. Is it standard? No, absolutely not.

The standard work schedule in my little segment of the oil sands industry is 14/7 or 10/5. Starting yearly wage at those schedules for my position/field is about 135-150K. I gladly, gladly take a bit less money to have 26 weeks a year off.

To work out the math though, a normal schedule in my field would be approx 58 hours a week...not including travel time, which is typically covered for non camp/fly out employees. Yeah, I work closer to 45 a week when averaged out over a 52 week year.
 
worm said:
my 33.5 hour work weeks are the devil
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Well, hours don't mean much for people that have their thumb up their arse. Some work takes a helluva a lot of time. Some is intense, if not time consuming. Some are both. Some are neither. It's hard to judge.
 
TheCountofMonteCristo said:
I'm not denying you work that much, but how is that really possible on a long term basis. That is 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. That is unsustainable on a long term basis as it will kill most people. Hell, I think I work too much and maybe I put in 45-50.
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I think the longest shift I ever worked was 13hrs/day for 6 weeks straight and by the end of it I almost cracked. The days start to blend after week 3 and you basically work and sleep. I would leave for work at 7pm, get back to camp at 9 am and sleep until 6pm, eat and then back on the bus.

It helps pad the bank account but its tough on the body
 
That sounds horrible....I think the longest I ever went without a day off was 22 days, 8 hour shifts at that....and it still felt like a nightmare. Can't imagine doing that ^^
 
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