I.A.M. vs DynCorp International

[Pingsteal]

Some of you just don't get it....and I understand that, and that's cool. You see me as some whiner who wants something for nothing, wants a bunch of leave time and this that and the other, and basically that I am just someone who wants to complain about everything cause "oh boo hoo I have to work".

Far from it people. Unless you have walked a mile in my shoes with this Company, I don't expect any one of you to truly understand how things are there, and just how effed up a place DynCorp is to work. It doesn't matter if you're Union, not Union, black, white, hispanic, Keebler elf....whatever.

And to those whose sound advice is "get another job", I love how you make that sound oh so simple. I will not get another job, but at the same time, I will not tolerate the place I work trying to change the way it does business every five seconds because someone gets their panties in a wad, lying to me, and creating an overtly hostile working environment. I choose to exercise my rights as guaranteed me by the law.

If people are happy with the status quo with their employer, then good on you. But don't come attacking me for trying to give people an idea of what's going on with a major employer in town, and turning it into something it's not. It's simply childish and stupid. And as I said before, unless you've walked a mile in my shoes, I don't expect you to understand.

It's not just about vacation and sick leave. It's about pay, better treatment, and having a place of work that I can actually look forward to going to rather than dreading everyday.

 

[BernieP]

Ok, an addendum to my post:
Our workers do have a charge number for true base lockouts. It's part of the contracts. We do have different numbers for sick vs holiday. We have disability benefits, both short and long term to use if an illness lasts more than 5 days (but we have to use 5 days of personal time first). We are not a union shop.

How a company compensates an employee is often based on wether they are wage (hourly) or salary. Wage graded employees get paid OT, time and a half, double or triiple based on when and how much they work. They typically get scheduled breaks. Salary employees might be expected to work OT (casual OT) without additional compenstation. Leave is a form of compensation. It's about the only form of compensatoin outside pay, that a company can tailor to the employee.
How much compensation a company is willing to give is usually dictated by how competitive the position is they are trying to fill. If they know there are only a handful of people that can do a certain job it's an indication they are going to have to compete to recruit that person and it's going to cost them. On the other hand, a non-skill position might have hundres of people capable fo filling it.
Unions try to inflate compensation by withholding service.

 

[Pingsteal]

As a former bubblehead trapped in airdale land I'll take a job with 80 hours only vaca a year who's hiring?

Honestly, you could probably get hired on at Dyn.

Do you know what an airplane looks like?

 

[Gilligan]

Some of you just don't get it....

It's not just about vacation and sick leave. It's about pay, better treatment, and having a place of work that I can actually look forward to going to rather than dreading everyday.

I got all that. Crystal clear. You live in a right-to-work state and you do not like your employer but, for reasons only you know well, you refuse to leave that employer.

Got it. When I was in the same situation..I simply left. To each their own, right? You are in total control of your own destiny and nobody can take that away from you.

Edit: and that does sound like a pretty crappy environment in many respects; certainly not the first time I've heard that said about DynCorp. But I'm sure you are smart enough to know to never expect a company to change...at least not in anything resembling your lifetime.

 

[glhs837]

I worked for Dyn from 1996 til 2000, before unionization. Same policy then, you got vacation time, and if you didnt work, you used it. I then worked for Wyle Labs, although during that time we were Veridian, then General Dynamics AIS, then Wyle, and you know what, during that time, I earned vacation time, and if I wasnt at work, I used it. No sick time, no time for broken down cars, just vacation time.

Same where I work now, I get vacation time, and use it for taking time off, no matter the reason. I suspected, back when I first heard Dyn was going union, that this would happen. The union 2would push for so much that dyn wouldnt compete anymore.

Dont mistake me, I was not super happy working for dyn, I had a supervisor lie on my eval, and try to tosss me under the bus. I had suggestions blown off, and other crap happen. but it beat the hell out of 84 Lumber, or Amstar. Dont be a freaking prima donna. If you more time off, get more education, get a job that has them.

 

[NTNG]

As of June 2010, St. Mary's County has a 6.1% unemployment rate. Thats in comparison to 7.4% Maryland wide, and 9.6% over all in the U.S. It's easier to find a job, when you have a job...
If your employer is SO bad, and you're so unhappy, then YOU do something about it. Get a degree. I know, you'll respond that your company does not have education benefits. Use loans, grants, etc. Want to remain in aviation maintenance? Do you have your FAA A+P or IA ticket? If not, go get the certification. Polish your resume, and learn to manage your expectations. Your call to your union brothers to show up at your meeting is all fine and dandy, but ultimately, if you want to better your place in life, it's on you, not your employer...

 

[Pingsteal]

As of June 2010, St. Mary's County has a 6.1% unemployment rate. Thats in comparison to 7.4% Maryland wide, and 9.6% over all in the U.S. It's easier to find a job, when you have a job...
If your employer is SO bad, and you're so unhappy, then YOU do something about it. Get a degree. I know, you'll respond that your company does not have education benefits. Use loans, grants, etc. Want to remain in aviation maintenance? Do you have your FAA A+P or IA ticket? If not, go get the certification. Polish your resume, and learn to manage your expectations. Your call to your union brothers to show up at your meeting is all fine and dandy, but ultimately, if you want to better your place in life, it's on you, not your employer...

This is not just about me here...

....but it's obvious the point has been lost.

So really...comment away, flame away, I really don't give a ####. Like I said, unless you're there, you just don't understand.

 

[Gilligan]

I then worked for Wyle Labs, although during that time we were Veridian, then General Dynamics AIS, then Wyle, .

That and an earlier post sum up a lot of what is behind the whole pay and benefits thing wrt to base support contracts. They frankly suck rocks. They are so fiercely competed and the bids are so full of half-truths and outright lies that..well, we (engineering company) simply stopped participating in any bid teams.

Think about that. We won't even participate in that miserable mess..and so we avoid creating what could be a similarly messed up situation for our company and our employees.

So who created that environment? Not DynCorp..DynCorp is trying to survive in that awfull sector along with quite a few of their competitors beacuse they cannot do what we did and simply refuse that kind of work.

 

[Pingsteal]

So sorry I tried to enlighten people as to what is going on. That I wanted to make people aware of something that effects almost 1000 people working here in southern Maryland.

You fine people keep burying your heads in the sand.....and reproducing. It's what makes America GrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRREAT!!!!

 

[Chasey_Lane]

....but it's obvious the point has been lost.

You're complaining about something you have control over. Farm out your resume, go on interviews, find a better job that's healthy for you with the benefits you are looking for, to include time off for broken nails and menstrual cramps.

 

[Pete]

So sorry I tried to enlighten people as to what is going on. That I wanted to make people aware of something that effects almost 1000 people working here in southern Maryland.

You fine people keep burying your heads in the sand.....and reproducing. It's what makes America GrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRREAT!!!!

This is childish

 

[Pingsteal]

That and an earlier post sum up a lot of what is behind the whole pay and benefits thing wrt to base support contracts. They frankly suck rocks. They are so fiercely competed and the bids are so full of half-truths and outright lies that..well, we (engineering company) simply stopped participating in any bid teams.

Think about that. We won't even participate in that miserable mess..and so we avoid creating what could be a similarly messed up situation for our company and our employees.

So who created that environment? Not DynCorp..DynCorp is trying to survive in that awfull sector along with quite a few of their competitors beacuse they cannot do what we did and simply refuse that kind of work.

Hmm...me thinks had DynCorp not lied to it's employees about a pay incrase and an increase in benefits in the first place, then the employees there would not have to have joined the Union in order to have their rights represented. So honestly...DynCorp didn't create their own environment? I am sorry, but I have to call BS on that.

 

[aps45819]

there are also several key issues that DynCorp International has barely budged on, or have flat out refused to address. Chief among these is the Company has stated they are not interested in providing more paid time off than what is already provided. This means DynCorp is not interested in providing more days of vacation, nor are they interested in giving any DynCorp employees sick leave.

.

I will not tolerate the place I work trying to change the way it does business every five seconds because someone gets their panties in a wad, lying to me, and creating an overtly hostile working environment. I choose to exercise my rights as guaranteed me by the law.

So how does not changing their policy constitute trying to change the way they do business "every five seconds"?

Guess you want DynaCorp to lose more contracts :shrug:

 

[BernieP]

I worked for Dyn from 1996 til 2000, before unionization. Same policy then, you got vacation time, and if you didnt work, you used it. I then worked for Wyle Labs, although during that time we were Veridian, then General Dynamics AIS, then Wyle, and you know what, during that time, I earned vacation time, and if I wasnt at work, I used it. No sick time, no time for broken down cars, just vacation time.

Same where I work now, I get vacation time, and use it for taking time off, no matter the reason. I suspected, back when I first heard Dyn was going union, that this would happen. The union 2would push for so much that dyn wouldnt compete anymore.

Dont mistake me, I was not super happy working for dyn, I had a supervisor lie on my eval, and try to tosss me under the bus. I had suggestions blown off, and other crap happen. but it beat the hell out of 84 Lumber, or Amstar. Dont be a freaking prima donna. If you more time off, get more education, get a job that has them.

A lot of companies have gone to a single bucket of leave, PTO or paid time off. The old system of having seperate sick and vacation leave begged for abuse - why not use "sick leave" for those days off you needed to run errnands and save vacation leave for the week long family trip.
Sick leave expired at the end of the year and vacation time usually accrued.
This presents another problem, when you earn leave the company banks that time at your present salary. If you build it up and take it 2 years from now that leave is taken at a higher salary - this exceeds the reserve the company put on the books. That's why you now get one pot of leave and they encourage you to take it - just keep billling the customer direct as it increases profit.

 

[Pingsteal]

find a better job that's healthy for you with the benefits you are looking for, to include time off for broken nails and menstrual cramps.

So is this Pete

 

[popsicle]

In most cases having just one "kind of leave" can be to your advantage. When I worked for a contractor that had both sick and vacation leave I got paid for my unused accrued vacation but not sick. Now if you only have one leave bucket you can get paid out for all of your accrued leave if you leave the company.

 

[Gilligan]

So sorry I tried to enlighten people as to what is going on. !!!!

A little arrogant are we? How long have you been in the area working for base contractor(s). Better yet..how many bidding teams have you worked on to put proposals together? When was the first? (My first team proposal effort was '86..)

You complained about the situation. Sounded pretty crappy to me too. You received feedback..and some of of from people who obviously have far more insight than you do as to exactly why companies like DynCorp have become less than great places to work, and why that situation can only continue to degrade with time. DoD procurement practices guarantee that outcome.

 

[chernmax]

Call Obama, he loves Unions. It gives him an opportunity to just deal and talk to the big Union Tuna and not have to deal with individuals...

 

[Gilligan]

Hmm...me thinks had DynCorp not lied to it's employees about a pay incrase and an increase in benefits in the first place.

All that was in writing?? I would be pissed too. That said..double guarantee you that revenues missed targets somewhere and with margins finer than frog hair on that kind of contract...

Ugly business...I would absolutely hate being a CFO in that environement.

 

[aps45819]

Call Obama, he loves Unions. It gives him an opportunity to just deal and talk to the big Union Tuna and not have to deal with individuals...

Maybe he can seize the company and give it to your union like he did with Chrysler