Yet another fire on the mine today....

[Michael Alexander]

I heard this afternoon that there was another fire on the mine, this time on the sea walker at pocket beaches.....A source reckons that it resembled an episode from the goon show, fire engines being stuck in the sand, fireman getting an electrical shock on the fire engine... fire engines not starting.... the entire safety dept was there whilst alll this was going on..... Oh, me oh my....... how the mine is coming apart at the seams.......

[Michael Alexander]

Just another afterthought, I wonder if anyone will get disciplined or dismissed for this..... i bet not.......

(oh and I know there are photo's floating around of the incident, you know who you are.....) 

[bobbysmith]

got a few sew and sews here in the uk mike,send airfares ,they can stitch them,cant be having them comming apart at the seems now ,can we,them sow and sews mite be poles,god forbid they come via canada,the bot squad will never forgive me x

[Carl Wrbka]

I agree Michael, it's tragic. Not the fire, but De Beers allowing their "Jewel of the Namib" to degrade to such a level.

[Mike Stenson (RIP)]

hope it was not a electrical fault again,  we will never here the end of it.

seen a couple of these goon shows over the years.

[Michael Alexander]

I heard that a boiler maker was welding on a line he should not have been.... remember what I said somewhere else...you pay peanuts you get monkey's.....

The mine is losing their grip, their HR dept was mismanaged in my opinion..... I know of at least five people who worked for the mine... resigned, and then stayed on in contracting positions...... earning more money for doing the same job.....

Overtime is still uncontrolled... i know once again of anothe r five people that work overtime on the weekends when the work they are actually doing could have been done during the week.... I suppose that has been happening for years, the only difference is that the mine is on it's last legs and needs someone to enforce these "overtime" hogs....

[Carl Wrbka]

It's not just limited to Namdeb, this peanuts/monkeys problem. I believe the world in general is facing a severe shortage of experienced artisans.

[Mike Stenson (RIP)]

I heard that a boiler maker was welding on a line he should not have been.... remember what I said somewhere else...you pay peanuts you get monkey's.....

The mine is losing their grip, their HR dept was mismanaged in my opinion..... I know of at least five people who worked for the mine... resigned, and then stayed on in contracting positions...... earning more money for doing the same job.....

Overtime is still uncontrolled... i know once again of anothe r five people that work overtime on the weekends when the work they are actually doing could have been done during the week.... I suppose that has been happening for years, the only difference is that the mine is on it's last legs and needs someone to enforce these "overtime" hogs....

its because they pay peanuts that we have to work overtime.
and remember this money is spend in your spar
you trapping on thin ice here mike, watch it
:36_2_35:

[Carl Wrbka]

 :emot19:  Tell him Mike.

[Michael Alexander]

Oh Oh! The overtime mafia and the men in black are ganging up on me....     Gee.... And I was gonna invite Mike over for a Whisky and a braai..... 

[SandyB]

Good  Artisans ??  becoming like hens teeth ... Its a huge frustration to me .. I have to run a production unit .. machinery is becoming  more complex  to enable high speed operation   .. electronics .. PLC control etc .. and the  general level of people we getting to do not  inspire any confidence ..  We recently lost one of our millwrights that we had trained up from appy .. skilled , intelligent ... could transform  my ideas into reality , I felt as though I had lost a limb .. 

[Michael Alexander]

If a company, no matter what size is run on sound principals, like a huge family, where it;s not just a case of the company ...taking labour for pay,but going the extra mile to show the employee that they are part of that company.... that employee will be happier at work and more inclined to stay.... ie...CDM in the old days, did so much for the community, derby day, Xmas tree....schooling.......the company has lost those principals..... and thus sits in this self made prediciment...

[Carl Wrbka]

Too true. Large companies are resorting to all kinds of underhanded tactics nowadays to lure qualified artisans.

Eskom is the main culprit at the moment. They arrived in Secunda one Friday afternoon two months ago, and set up a recruitment station at one of our local High Schools. They were offering the applicants as much as double their current salaries to sign up. I'm not sure of the exact figures, but I reckon they left with close to a thousand of our skilled workforce.

The best part was when our MD confronted them on that Saturday morning. After throwing the book of business ethics at them, the chief recruiter turns to him and says, "Don't think we don't have the financial backup to pay these people. There is nothing you can do to stop us".

The Labour market has turned into a real dog eat dog world. Good for the artisans, but definately detrimental to smaller companies struggling to get their foot in the door.

[David John Long]

We don't need no water let the mother#$%er burn
Burn mother@#!er burn

:36_2_35:

[Michael Alexander]

david r u in town? if u r ... 30 minutes.. braai at my house... whiskey I have.....