Lads telling war stories about pulling in €1,000+ a week back in the good days

Lollipops23

Red_Wake wrote: »

The mark of the peasantry is enjoying the inferiority or misfortune of others.

I don't think people "enjoy" it-particularly if they're working and thus funding those on SW.

Bruthal

the_syco wrote: »

When sh|t happens and the truck moves forward/shovel slips/etc and the digger operator gets hospitalised, the physicist will continue working.

I was thinking the same myself

robbie7730 wrote: »

Site safety officers might prefer the physicist`s methods though.

SafeSurfer

The good times have never stopped for some sectors.

Recently on a trip to my local AIB I was taken aside by my bank manager and asked if I would be interested in taking part in a one day mentoring course paid for by the bank.

She told me she had to sign up 50 local businesses from her branch as part of "giving something back to the community".

She told me the mentoring would be done by a top consultancy firm and the bank would be paying them 900 euro per business customer for the training.

I told her I thought this was complete madness. Each AIB branch in the country forking out 45k for their customers to listen to some newly graduated "consultant" telling them how to grow their business in a recession. Paid for by a bank that gives small business owners the Spanish inquisition treatment when extending basic overdraft facilities.

It would be funny if it wasn't so ludicrous.

Rabidlamb

Unavailable for Comment wrote: »

In all fairness in 2007, even a category A labourer should have only been on an hourly rate of ≈€17.20 so being offered €12 today is certainly not an insult! Sure the rate today is less than €5 more.

I dunno I reckon your friend is bullsh1tting. As a digger driver he'd be category C meaning he'd be paid ≈€16 an hour. To be taking home €1400 would have meant earning €2150 a week or ≈€112000 a year! Even if he was at a constant double time rate he wouldn't have made close to that. It just wasn't happening and if it did it absolutely only affected a tiny minority of builders.

I reckon people like your friend have built up the "glory days" far more than they were in reality because it allows them to feel more justified in going straight into a construction job without worrying about long term prospects. Some people are still surviving or even flourishing in construction. Others aren't. If it makes them feel better to make out that it was better than it was that's up to them.

He was working on the M7 upgrade prior to the Ryder Cup.
They used work through the night with the floodlights going non-stop.
Apparently big bonuses were being paid to staff to get the job completed in time.

I'd believe him cause he's never shut up about but yet has never contradicted himself either.

Spread

I agree with Mr. Incognito. People should also realise that this is not the first downturn in Irish history. Life is not a level playing field .......... so you've got to play with the hand that you've been dealt. Incessant griping is bad for the health. Nobody is starving ......... there is a welfare net to tackle this. I'm not quite sure if it's schadenfreude, but the Irish do like to complain. "Jasus, I can't stand this heat/humidity/cold" ........... when there's little else to complain about . But the sun will rise again tomorrow ......... as it has been doing for billions of years (letting myself open to an earful here from a budding astrophysicist) and life will go on. So there really isn't much margin in venting apart from needing to ........... just as I've done in this post. But you know what I mean.

Spread

Lollipops23 wrote: »

I don't get a giddy thrill out of them being on the dole- but there is a sense of irony that a lot of people gave up the path of being more secure in the long run, only to have it bite them in the ass. Especially when those of us who went to college etc got sneered at.

I didn't realize that there are huge openings for entry level graduates. You may have a news story here.

ScumLord

the_syco wrote: »

When sh|t happens and the truck moves forward/shovel slips/etc and the digger operator gets hospitalised, the physicist will continue working.

As a health and safety officer of a site. Many health and safety officers know very little outside the basics of reverse in parking, walkways and eye protection. They often have a very lose understanding about what, I once asked a health and safety officer for a procedures manual so we could get a concrete explanation of what we should be doing to meet health and safety standards and I was directed to an A3 poster with ticks and crosses on it showing someone wearing a high viz vest.

UglyBolloxFace

Dymo wrote: »

I remember a bricklayer friend boasting in the pub that he earning more than Doctors and Solicitors and he never went to collage and implying how much smarter he was than them wasting there time with this education lark. He's in New York now looking for work.

Is an artistic collage all that's needed to become a doctor or solicitor?:pac:

Zonda999

Red_Wake wrote: »

The mark of the peasantry is enjoying the inferiority or misfortune of others.

What are you saying exactly here?

Are you saying some people begrudged others during our property fuelled boom? Well I never. Jealousy and Greed were pretty much the defining aspects of that time, anyone will tell you that. You've surely heard the phrase, "No one likes to see their neighbour getting rich". (That rich was with borrowed money in our case)

Or are you saying some are enjoying some being out of work/on the dole at this time? I son't think that's the case somehow, especially when you look at the states Social Welfare spend. Anyone working is subsidizing those peoples lives in reality, if that seems harsh, I'm sorry but that's the truth, fundamentally speaking. No enjoyment to be taken out of that I can assure you..

SafeSurfer wrote: »

The good times have never stopped for some sectors.

Recently on a trip to my local AIB I was taken aside by my bank manager and asked if I would be interested in taking part in a one day mentoring course paid for by the bank.

She told me she had to sign up 50 local businesses from her branch as part of "giving something back to the community".

She told me the mentoring would be done by a top consultancy firm and the bank would be paying them 900 euro per business customer for the training.

I told her I thought this was complete madness. Each AIB branch in the country forking out 45k for their customers to listen to some newly graduated "consultant" telling them how to grow their business in a recession. Paid for by a bank that gives small business owners the Spanish inquisition treatment when extending basic overdraft facilities.

It would be funny if it wasn't so ludicrous.

I'm working in a medium sized business for the summer as part of college work placement. I've talked about this with one of the directors and I will believe it is an absolute joke. Even the smallest credit related service has to go to the very op to be approved. The bank managers are scared sh!tless so they send everything up the line where it just gets lost and is eventually turned down. That story about the 'giving something back to the community' is the typical crap you might expect from these jokes of banks. They certainly aren't functioning as banks at the moment anyway, they are hoarding cash, scared sh!tless to lend any out. Its gone full circle, they used to think 'risk' was imaginary but now they see nothing but risks

allibastor

fishy fishy wrote: »

married at 24??
wow, you missed out on life big style.

Kid at 19 and all. though not really missed out. will have the kids all raised when i am 35 and will be able to do things then.
being young and free is grand if you have the money to do mad things, but how many 25 years old can go on expensive hold or do other thing alike that. you can only afford that, hopefully, by the time you hit mid to late 30's

the_syco

Spread wrote: »

But the sun will rise again tomorrow .........

My spider senses are tingling; are you a builder? :pac: I keed, I keed.

SafeSurfer wrote: »

She told me she had to sign up 50 local businesses from her branch as part of "giving something back to the community".

Sounds like something that the government told them to do.

Bruthal

Zonda999 wrote: »

I'm working in a medium sized business for the summer as part of college work placement. I've talked about this with one of the directors and I will believe it is an absolute joke. Even the smallest credit related service has to go to the very op to be approved. The bank managers are scared sh!tless so they send everything up the line where it just gets lost and is eventually turned down. That story about the 'giving something back to the community' is the typical crap you might expect from these jokes of banks. They certainly aren't functioning as banks at the moment anyway, they are hoarding cash, scared sh!tless to lend any out. Its gone full circle, they used to think 'risk' was imaginary but now they see nothing but risks

They knew the risk was real, but they believed it was the loan applicants risk, not theirs, particularly with mortgages.

Zonda999

tbh wrote: »

this isn't a recession, it's a correction, and it was a long time coming.

Exactly, An Economic Re-adjustment. These things go in cycles, have done for the last 100 years or more, longer in more fundamental terms.

The sun will shine again, but you've got to give it time, its not that things will have to get cheaper here (i.e, deflation), its that inflation will be higher in other countries relative to here, which will, over time make us competitive again.

El Siglo

allibastor wrote: »

Kid at 19 and all. though not really missed out. will have the kids all raised when i am 35 and will be able to do things then.
being young and free is grand if you have the money to do mad things, but how many 25 years old can go on expensive hold or do other thing alike that. you can only afford that, hopefully, by the time you hit mid to late 30's

Being young and free isn't about money and in most cases you don't have money but you do have freedom to travel and see the world albeit on a budget which is still better than sticking around Ireland on the dole. Also, you don't have any real responsibilities (mortgage, family etc...), which is pretty conducive for the old travelling. Besides, some of the best places to see in the world are usually not tourist resorts. Each to their own at the end of the day.

I used to think Eastern European countries or African countries were the most prone to corruption and bad spending but this country really did take the biscuit. In no way, unless you're the most divinely gifted tradesman who works a hundred hours a week should you have pulled in €1,400 after tax. That's absolutely ridiculous and the OPs friend is deluded to think his skills are worth anywhere near that now.

Andy Magic

Zonda999 wrote: »

That really gets to me too, people who say this have zero concept of economics, obviously.

http://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/property-mortgages/shortage-of-homes-for-under-35s-in-cities-to-spark-price-surge-3143917.html

'Shortage of homes for under 35s in cities to spark price surge' is the headline

Probably the kind of headline these same people would like to see. for the record, even the ESRI said on the radio this morning that the rpices on some urban centre might level off and stay that way for a number of years,hardly a 'surge', typical indo rubbish. We will never see times like that again, and it will be for the better of the country IMHO..

Very interesting / entertaining read there... Especially this:

Unemployment is going to grow too - from 4.5 per cent to 4.75 per cent. It's hardly the bad old days, is it? Four or 5 per cent unemployment constitutes practically full employment when you take into account frictional, structural and voluntary unemployment - the unemployment that always exists even if there are jobs for everyone.

Bad Panda

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

This thread has decended into - they were so smug now they are on the dole

MUUHHA HA HA HA

So it's typical Irish Begrugery. They took what was on offer.

We all bought into it and people on the dole regardless of any past performances and the taxpayer being saddled with private property gambling debts is a scam and a scandal.

It's not really begrudgery if they were being smug bast@rds in the first place.

Edit: And I really wish people would stop bandying the word 'begrudgery' about. It's up there with 'jealousy' as a counter-argument.

allibastor

El Siglo wrote: »

Being young and free isn't about money and in most cases you don't have money but you do have freedom to travel and see the world albeit on a budget which is still better than sticking around Ireland on the dole. Also, you don't have any real responsibilities (mortgage, family etc...), which is pretty conducive for the old travelling. Besides, some of the best places to see in the world are usually not tourist resorts. Each to their own at the end of the day.

I used to think Eastern European countries or African countries were the most prone to corruption and bad spending but this country really did take the biscuit. In no way, unless you're the most divinely gifted tradesman who works a hundred hours a week should you have pulled in €1,400 after tax. That's absolutely ridiculous and the OPs friend is deluded to think his skills are worth anywhere near that now.

i was just saying that when people say you missed out on things being young with kids and misses that it has its benefits too, like being mid thirties with money and raised kids is all.

and in answer to your questions, i actually worked on the M7 and i can tell you, cause i signed the paychecks, that lads were actually making 1200-1400 a week after tax for driving machines, many companies used to give subsistence for lads who traveled from outside the city to work. they got expenses to drive around on site. it was shocking to say the least that many lads on site were on 1000 a week. the guys who cleaned the office were getting a laborers wage of 700 a week or more.

RoverZT

Bad Panda wrote: »

A skill anybody can learn, like driving.

It's not that you need an aptitude for that kind of thing, which imo, renders it not a skill as such.

Anybody can sit in a class room for 4 years and get a degree as well.

Almost everything can be taught

Real skill is very rare, real skill makes you millions.

Messi now that's skill.

I did the college thing and I would find it alot easier than operating a 25 tonne digger.

Of course you need aptitude for that.

People like you drive me mad, met plenty of idiots like you in College thinking they were so smart and mighty because they are doing some poxy course.

Show some respect to others.

What's your skill?

Like this guy?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymsHLkB8u3s

Carson10

Hears my opinion of all the big wages in the celtic tiger. Anyone who made money was poor to start off with, blew it all and now they are gone back to poor. Personally i think it serves them right. Had they no cop on at all.? If they were sensible they could have sat back and retired early.

For example a cousin of my dads done all this.

Set up his own construction related company back 04/05 at the start of it all. Now he wasnt building houses just selling somthing that every new house in the country had. Just like velux windows etc.

He went from him in 04 working as a tiler and his wife working as well to, her not working, brand new santafe Jeep, him brand new merc, 3 new delivery vans, then cos they live in the country the kids were into horses, so that ment, brand new horse box, quads, trailers, tractor, sheep trailers expensive horses etc. They had it all. now iam not talking massive house or lavish partys or anything but just went and spent everything as it was comming in. Now the merc is gone, vans are gone jeep is getting old, wife is gone back working and he is now a taxi driver.

i dunno who do you blame?

rgmmg

Carson10 wrote: »

Hears my opinion of all the big wages in the celtic tiger. Anyone who made money was poor to start off with, blew it all and now they are gone back to poor. Personally i think it serves them right. Had they no cop on at all.? If they were sensible they could have sat back and retired early.

For example a cousin of my dads done all this.

Set up his own construction related company back 04/05 at the start of it all. Now he wasnt building houses just selling somthing that every new house in the country had. Just like velux windows etc.

He went from him in 04 working as a tiler and his wife working as well to, her not working, brand new santafe Jeep, him brand new merc, 3 new delivery vans, then cos they live in the country the kids were into horses, so that ment, brand new horse box, quads, trailers, tractor, sheep trailers expensive horses etc. They had it all. now iam not talking massive house or lavish partys or anything but just went and spent everything as it was comming in. Now the merc is gone, vans are gone jeep is getting old, wife is gone back working and he is now a taxi driver.

i dunno who do you blame?

the brand new horse box, definitely

Rabidlamb

allibastor wrote: »

I actually worked on the M7 and i can tell you, cause i signed the paychecks, that lads were actually making 1200-1400 a week after tax for driving machines, many companies used to give subsistence for lads who traveled from outside the city to work. they got expenses to drive around on site. it was shocking to say the least that many lads on site were on 1000 a week. the guys who cleaned the office were getting a laborers wage of 700 a week or more.

You see, your man on Prime Time was right, if we just restart the building boom we'll be rolling in it.

God, that's some blast from the past.

Carson10

rgmmg wrote: »

the brand new horse box, definitely

LOL.. Yeah blame the kids for wanting to be posh! i suppose the only good thing is that he bought all the stuff and paid for it, he wasnt one of the get a loan for type people so atleast for the kids sake they still have most of the stuff. He just sold the merc and vans cos they wernt needed. There not in debt or anything.

Carson10

Rabidlamb wrote: »

You see, your man on Prime Time was right, if we just restart the building boom we'll be rolling in it.

God, that's some blast from the past.

since the boom there must be a massive decline in, Sun newspapers, breakfast rolls and lucozade. And who chats up the ugly girls on the deli's now? poor girls.:)

Unavailable for Comment

the_syco wrote: »

From what I know from a few lads who worked on sites... This tax free working didn't only happen in the construction industry, though.

Oh yeah tax evasion happened, especially in the smaller construction firms... as well as every other industry that wasn't on the PAYE system.

However on a publicly funded project like the M7, chances are the contractors would be tax compliant because if they weren't they'd lose their C2 standing meaning no more access to the public money trough. Also it really made no economic sense not to be when the bill was being picked up by the NRA with only the vaguest controls on overruns etc. Giving employees "tax breaks" hardly equates to large enough profits for the firm to take the risk and these firms were never motivated by altruism.

Rabidlamb wrote: »

He was working on the M7 upgrade prior to the Ryder Cup.
They used work through the night with the floodlights going non-stop.
Apparently big bonuses were being paid to staff to get the job completed in time. I'd believe him cause he's never shut up about but yet has never contradicted himself either.

Ah ok. Well if it's made up by overtime then I'd actually feel sorry for him. There are salary and overtime rates his employer would be obliged to pay under the "Sustaining Progress" agreement.

If he was working 8:00 to 24:00 Monday to Friday he'd be pulling in €320 for a 16 hour day. Multiply that by 5 and you've €1600. Added to that a Saturday of maybe 8 to 12 again and he'd have another €480. That's around €2080 and he'll have done 96 hours thereabouts. Average of €21.60 per hour of back breaking labour.

I'm thinking that's not overly well paid for what he's doing. Also I calculated that as if he didn't have to stop for lunches and mandated breaks because they're unpaid so you could take 12 hours off there, dropping his salary yet further. Also God forbid the HSA discovers you've men working 100 hours a week. It's illegal as well as highly dangerous.

If he was getting bonuses for working hard etc, fair play to him. From my memories of working on the sites they were never given out like smarties.

Anyway it's all irrelevant. He needs to cop on to his situation in life at the minute. He's four years out of work. Doesn't matter what he earned if all he has left is vague, inflated memories.

Ray Palmer

allibastor wrote: »

El Siglo wrote: »

Being young and free isn't about money and in most cases you don't have money but you do have freedom to travel and see the world albeit on a budget which is still better than sticking around Ireland on the dole. Also, you don't have any real responsibilities (mortgage, family etc...), which is pretty conducive for the old travelling. Besides, some of the best places to see in the world are usually not tourist resorts. Each to their own at the end of the day.

I used to think Eastern European countries or African countries were the most prone to corruption and bad spending but this country really did take the biscuit. In no way, unless you're the most divinely gifted tradesman who works a hundred hours a week should you have pulled in €1,400 after tax. That's absolutely ridiculous and the OPs friend is deluded to think his skills are worth anywhere near that now.

i was just saying that when people say you missed out on things being young with kids and misses that it has its benefits too, like being mid thirties with money and raised kids is all.

and in answer to your questions, i actually worked on the M7 and i can tell you, cause i signed the paychecks, that lads were actually making 1200-1400 a week after tax for driving machines, many companies used to give subsistence for lads who traveled from outside the city to work. they got expenses to drive around on site. it was shocking to say the least that many lads on site were on 1000 a week. the guys who cleaned the office were getting a laborers wage of 700 a week or more.

weren't most of them contractors? I thought that was how a lot of building companies worked?

Spread

El Siglo wrote: »

.................................................................... ............................................................................................................ In no way, unless you're the most divinely gifted tradesman who works a hundred hours a week should you have pulled in €1,400 after tax. That's absolutely ridiculous and the OPs friend is deluded to think his skills are worth anywhere near that now.

Got news for you there El Siglo. I was on more than that ten years ago. And as I was in my early 50s then, there were young fellows earning 50% more again. This was piecework plastering in new sites. All works overseen by a Dublin City Clerk of Works - so work was of a high standard.
As I also measured up for the Plastering contractor I knew of one fellow who consistently had over E2k per week.
Once you've got the right system going - getting maximum M2 out of your labour and you don't mind the sweat and aching muscles it was not all that bad.
This, by the way was M - F ........ 7.30 - 5 or 5.30 with 2 X 30 mins breaks.

kowloon

What about those of us who were useless on both sides of the boom? Where's my free money? :mad:

bernardamaac.

What about us who know have to go to college for 4 years and save money to leave the country u love? How bad australia here i come.;)

Rabidlamb

Unavailable for Comment wrote: »

Anyway it's all irrelevant. He needs to cop on to his situation in life at the minute. He's four years out of work. Doesn't matter what he earned if all he has left is vague, inflated memories.

True that, he bought a Subaru Imprenza one week for the wife but she couldn't handle it with 2 young kids so traded it in for a Passat estate, told me it cost him €8,000 for the mistake.

Wompa1

I'm making close to that a week now. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! And no doubt I will wind up in the same situation in 2 years time. Broke and alone but until then.

CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES!

Duggys Housemate

Wompa1 wrote: »

I'm making close to that a week now. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! And no doubt I will wind up in the same situation in 2 years time. Broke and alone but until then.

CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES!

app developer?

UglyBolloxFace

tbh wrote: »

I remember a fella at the petrol station in ballymun in the builders boots and the hi-viz, paying for a breakfast roll and a tank of petrol and getting a load of change, which he threw in the bin.

I'm not calling you a liar, but I will say that you are definitely exercising poetic licence regarding the part bolded above. No matter how much money you have, who in their right mind would throw money away, regardless of how much it is? ****ing no-one, that's who.

Wompa1

Duggys Housemate wrote: »

app developer?

Application Virtualization. Not desktop virtualization or Cloud..kind of the next level. Each application is virtualized and streamed from a central server on demand. Been at it for 5 years but no other companies really used it until now. All of a sudden it's catching fire and there's very few people with experience. I give it 3 years at most before it fizzles out so gotta strike while the iron is hot

kowloon

Wompa1 wrote: »

Application Virtualization. Not desktop virtualization or Cloud..kind of the next level. Each application is virtualized and streamed from a central server on demand. Been at it for 5 years but no other companies really used it until now. All of a sudden it's catching fire and there's very few people with experience. I give it 3 years at most before it fizzles out so gotta strike while the iron is hot

Do your thing and keep plenty of money aside. You could invest it in property. All the smart people are investing in property.

I myself bought a Harley I can no longer lift, let alone drive, bought guns that don't fire and I invested in a vest... for a pigeon... A pigeon vest.

mikemac1

I remember trying to get a tiler. Hah, not a hope. I'm not a developer or own an estate, I'm only a "mickey mouse" job. Couldn't find a man to do it
I did it myself
I was very slow but tiling is not difficult, any hack can do it
I did a good job :cool:. I was just slow


Needed a man to fix my washing machine
Twice the lad I booked never showed up
I even took a day off work and had to hang around all day like a date who got stood up.
And when the guy called me that evening to re-schedule he twisted it around as if I was being unreasonable!
Thanks to the power of google I printed off some pages for my model and learn to fix the washing machine myself


I work to deadlines in my job, I can't promise something and then not show up. Why do tradesmen think being a no show is acceptable?


Need a plumber in the last few years?
Hah, you're probably still waiting

Irish tradesmen had no interest in small jobs, they all wanted the big jobs like fitting out estates and apartment blocks

Now I get flyers in my post box "no job too small" :rolleyes:
Fook them all!


I'm not a tradesman but I learned a lot and I'm somewhat competent as I forced myself to learn

I can even plaster a wall. Not a pro but I'm pretty good

And then they give out and say the Polish lads are cowboys and no good. Well if you weren't no shows and did a good job you would be hired every time!

BattleCorp

MadYaker wrote: »

It really isn't. Technically you're not considered a "skilled" worker unless you have a degree of some sort.

Not many blocklayers with a degree. You still reckon that isn't a skill?

Plenty of skilled workers out there who have picked up their skill as they go along and they know sh1tloads more than some prat with a degree.

tbh

UglyBolloxFace wrote: »

I'm not calling you a liar, but I will say that you are definitely exercising poetic licence regarding the part bolded above. No matter how much money you have, who in their right mind would throw money away, regardless of how much it is? ****ing no-one, that's who.

I swear to god, on my sons life, that's 100% true. I'd say he had about 1.50 - 2 euros in 20s and 50s. and and he exited the door, there's an open top bin just outside it and he opened his hand and dropped it in without looking.

Cantona's Collars

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

Yes they can, you could learn in an hour

It is not a "skill"

Obviously you've never driven a machine on a site then,working around live ESB mains,water,fibre optics etc.You're like one of those guys who watches F1 & thinks just 'cos they can drive a car they could drive an F1 car.

Back on topic,I knew 17 year olds who were pulling in a grand a week on sites then drinking & snorting it all weekend,now they haven't a pot to piss in.

cruiser178

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

Yes they can, you could learn in an hour

It is not a "skill"

Huh just goes to show you know nothing about what you're typing. In my experience (and that's a hell of a lot with heavy duty machines) it takes a couple of days to learn what the controls do but it takes at least 2 yrs (imo) experience to learn how to use it safely and correctly, most companies wont employ you without a minimum of 3 yrs experience. So yes it is a skill.

Naomi00

paddy147 wrote: »

So driving and operating a 20 tonne dumper truck or a large excavator isnt a skill then??

When people say a 'skilled worker' it usually means you've got formal training or a degree etc as a qualification for a job, it doesn't refer to a practical skill.

Sea Filly

tbh wrote: »

I remember a fella at the petrol station in ballymun in the builders boots and the hi-viz, paying for a breakfast roll and a tank of petrol and getting a load of change, which he threw in the bin.

:eek:

mikemac1

Naomi00 wrote: »

When people say a 'skilled worker' it usually means you've got formal training or a degree etc as a qualification for a job, it doesn't refer to a practical skill.

Wow, most every farmer in the country is unskilled so, they don't have their piece of paper

I wonder how they will feel about that
Someone with their head in a book for four years knows more about farming then a man who did it for decades

CarrickMcJoe

paddy147 wrote: »

So driving and operating a 20 tonne dumper truck or a large excavator isnt a skill then??

Jesus, Just how big is this garden?

up for anything

MadYaker wrote: »

It really isn't. Technically you're not considered a "skilled" worker unless you have a degree of some sort.

What definition of technically are you using. It's really only in the 150 odd years that people we consider to be professional have been given the time of day. Surgeons, accountants, solicitors were pretty much regarded as the low men on the totem pole. The people who had respect were the people who worked with their hands - those unskilled workers such as bricklayers and carpenters. You could have ten degrees and still not be skilled. I think you're mixing up skilled and professional.

Naomi00

mikemac1 wrote: »

Wow, most every farmer in the country is unskilled so, they don't have their piece of paper

I wonder how they will feel about that
Someone with their head in a book for four years knows more about farming then a man who did it for decades

I don't mean that :rolleyes: And I actually agree with you, it's not like I made up the term or anything.

I mean when people say x company has a skilled workforce that's what it refers to. People were getting mad over it when they misread the first person's post who mentioned it.

What I'm trying to say is that it doesn't mean actual skills, like a farmer or tradesperson would have, it's just another jargon term for qualified etc.



...I was just attempting to clear up what the other poster said. You're all very easily offended.

Cantona's Collars

mikemac1 wrote: »

Wow, most every farmer in the country is unskilled so, they don't have their piece of paper

I wonder how they will feel about that
Someone with their head in a book for four years knows more about farming then a man who did it for decades

Reminds me of having to literally babysit Engineers who learned it all from a book but hadn't a clue when put out in the real world.

Mardy Bum

Spread wrote: »

Got news for you there El Siglo. I was on more than that ten years ago. And as I was in my early 50s then, there were young fellows earning 50% more again. This was piecework plastering in new sites. All works overseen by a Dublin City Clerk of Works - so work was of a high standard.
As I also measured up for the Plastering contractor I knew of one fellow who consistently had over E2k per week.
Once you've got the right system going - getting maximum M2 out of your labour and you don't mind the sweat and aching muscles it was not all that bad.
This, by the way was M - F ........ 7.30 - 5 or 5.30 with 2 X 30 mins breaks.

Its also one of the reasons why so may developers end up bankrupt; paying extortionate wages because they themselves are receiving extortionate money for a very short period of time before people cope on to themselves or the economy goes down the shitter.

Happens in every country though. The smart builders are the ones who are not afraid to get up and leave a country for greener pastures.

Pottler

I gotta laugh at the outrage over €1400 a week. During the Boom, that was a reasonably ok days wage for many -I was in construction long before the boom, and I'm still in Construction, and I'm still flat out. Good men were and are scarce, there were hundreds and hundreds of cannon fodder types who could work a bit but were basically skill-less. The real hardcore of subbies were on just phenomenal money.
I have one guy working for me now who used to pay his men €1950.00 take home a week without blinking as they made him double that at least. A fun weekend was buying a new car(sports), driving it for a week then changing. Times have changed.
I started paying men a flat rate in the 90's, kept that rate pretty much unchanged bar inflation through the boom - Irish guys would not take it so I hired Eastern Europeans. I now have Irish guys queueing up to take it. It is far from stingy money. €1400 was not, not by a mares hole, a big amount to take home in the boom. I personally know men who made five figures in a day regularily but if I stated the amounts I'd be called a liar, so I won't.:) Almost to a man, they are flat bust today. I can't lecture though, because I also pissed my fair share away, but I stayed going. I bought a lot of cars, a lot of machinery and we lived very well, still do really. It was fun while it lasted but I doubt too many would swap as there was an awful lot of very hard graft involved. Site work is not easy money, no matter how much you are on.

BrianD3

I know or have come across many of these "lads". In one way I say well done to someone who manages to make 1000+ a week in their twenties with minimal education and below average intelligence.

The main problem I have with those working in construction is the attitude to paying tax. Any self employed tradesman I've dealt with wanted to be paid in cash and was very reluctant to issue a receipt - wonder why that is :rolleyes:

Even among those who were employed and should have been in the PAYE system there were issues with tax. Most of the fellas I know who were employed by a builder failed to grasp the concepts of GROSS and NET pay. They didn't know their gross, didn't get a payslip and didn't care. As long as they were getting "1000 in cash into me hand" they were happy.

Now the construction bubble has well and truly burst and many of them are on the dole. Now if they were earning 1000+ per week for many years how do they manage to have such meagre savings that they pass the means test for JSA. I can only conclude that one of the following applies:

1) They were bullsh*tting wildly about how much they earned, liars.
2) They were being truthful about what they earned but blew it all on booze and crap, twats.
3) They were being truthful about how much they earned, didn't blow it all on booze and crap and and do have significant savings. But are now understating their means and commiting social welfare fraud having previously evaded tax. Great lads indeed :rolleyes:

up for anything

BrianD3 wrote: »

1) They were bullsh*tting wildly about how much they earned, liars.
2) They were being truthful about what they earned but blew it all on booze and crap, twats.
3) They were being truthful about how much they earned, didn't blow it all on booze and crap and and do have significant savings. But are now understating their means and commiting social welfare fraud having previously evaded tax. Great lads indeed :rolleyes:

Not one good thing to say about them. I particularly liked this part of your post.

with minimal education and below average intelligence

Now if we're talking twats, I don't have to look very far. :rolleyes: