All For One or One for One?

[kevin bingham]

how is that drama? must have come across wrong. im just saying that I wouldnt mind our industry being treated more like electricians and plumbers tradesman.. rather than just simple laborers made up of drug addicts and illegals who cant find anything better to do. Not worked up about it, just musing.

 

[Mick!]

IMO the worst that can happen if you hire a hack is that your tree is badly pruned, big deal. (I don't go for the "ticking timebomb" scenario) maybe you might kill it (the tree) again, so what?

As you point out plumbers and electricians can burn your house down or worse, not on the day they're working, weeks, months or years later.

If a hack drops a tree on the clients house that's a good thing. Makes those of us try to make a habit of not crushing property (with mixed results admittedly) look worth the money to all the neighbours.

Where does it end? Can a homeowner not trim his own tree? He can change the brakes on his car.

 

[DMc]

Laws are such an easy sell being based on the logic of something done right. People being people quickly drift from that to calculating personal gain.

 

[stig]

How did unions help keeping the electricians and plumbers of England and Denmark ( Just to name 2 examples) from having their jobs taken over by electricians and plumbers from Poland, willing to work for ½ the pay or less?

 

[TreeMuggs]

We had a union incident a few years back.  Seems a big old Oak was trying to bully some little Aspens into joining,  they said they couldn't afford the dues,  so he sent some Hickory goons around to intimidate them. We ended up sneaking into the woods late at night and cutting a couple limbs off that Oak,  he shut up pretty quick. Calls for unionization always require a quick and swift response. 


Ever heard the saying "a workman is worth his wages"? It applies to all of us non - lawyers/politicians/Wall St tycoons.  For better or worse, we are paid exactly what we are worth to society. We are not being held down by 'unscrupulous homeowners who are too cheap to pay us what we are worth'. To increase your wages,  you need to find a way to add more value to people's lives than you are currently. This is one area where I am very much trying to take my own advice. 

 

[kevin bingham]

Laws are such an easy sell being based on the logic of something done right. People being people quickly drift from that to calculating personal gain.

This is true. When I look at things, I think how would that benefit me. Myself, holding myself to a high standard, would likely benefit from stricter regulations as I am better capable of abiding by them than untrained unskilled others.

Likewise, my company would benefit from stricter emission laws and higher gas prices as I have invested in technologies that would give me a competitive edge in that scenario.

I dont think a homeowner should be able to top a 250 year old oak on their property in the summertime. they jack my workmans comp rates up and spread oak wilt. the tree becomes a hazard for someone else to deal with.

I get the everyone should just do what they want attitude but thats not in my specific business best interest.

 

[Levi]

Mick, I think it's possible that more regulation could help improve the safety of our industry, in regards to personal injury and death, which happens far too often. Are there a high number of tree worker deaths in Europe?

Similar but different, I would not mind seeing more tree protections in my area, removal permits and permits for applying toxic chemi's.

 

[kevin bingham]

I also get that there can be so many rules that everyone just becomes criminals. I dont think that is good either.

 

[Levi]

After struggling with that concept on a broader level, the clear solution is to have regulated and deregulated zones. Places with laws enforced by Sam and places with a Mad Max style free for all

 

[sotc]

If you want wages like a plumber or electrician then bid that way, if you want to be more than a druggie with a chainsaw, then be more. Put out a pro image and bid what it takes to do the job safely and make a profit. I have found myself telling potential clients that I'm bidding the same wage as the plumber and showing up with more than a $30,000 pickup to do a job that has more risk. Light bulb clicks on. Sure I'd love to pay my guys 30 some dollars an hour but that won't happen anytime soon

 

[Levi]

 

[MasterBlaster]

We had a union incident a few years back.  Seems a big old Oak was trying to bully some little Aspens into joining,  they said they couldn't afford the dues,  so he sent some Hickory goons around to intimidate them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnC88xBPkkc

Interesting how it won't embed.

 

[Merle Nelson]

In my brief time as a tree worker in Colorado I have often thought about the wages for tree workers and ways to increase them, we all know it is a dangerous job and a hard one at that. Many solutions have been put forth, mainly the idea of improving public image and professionalism in order to demand higher compensation from the public. I've wondered many times if there should be some type of union or collective that could have more bargaining power. What do the tree housers say? As an owner operator I really have no stake in this at the moment, I set my own rates and get the compensation I need to get by and carry on. However I still come in to contact with and often think about the folks who toil away for peanuts on a daily basis. Is it every man for himself or should we have an eye to elevate our trade as a whole?

Mark Chisholm(sp) of TreeBuzz etc. did a superb presentation entitled 'Professionalism' that was a part of a recent Ed Gilman pruning seminar. If taken up and played out, it will go a long way toward producing the result you are seeking.

 

[Chris E]

I think I know why the tree game is unregulated:

Enforcement would be very difficult and expensive, its a different site day to day, or multiple sites in one day. Whereas a building site sits there for months ticking away, the authorities can schedule their visits very easily. With trees they would need to drive around endlessly homing in on the sound of saws and chippers. We need the hacks so they can work for the clients that we don't want.

The guys that work for peanuts ended up that way by doing shit work, they joined the race to the bottom of the market, its their own fault.

 

[Levi]

Ha! Good points.

 

[Chris E]

That's what they taught us at tech, either skill up or work your way down to $5 bucks an hour- That's how the tree game works.