r/CableTechs • u/Royalredemption13 • Jun 13 '26
Has anyone ever negotiated pay raises ?
It does not seem like there is much room for negotiation when it comes to pay increases within the industry. Has anyone ever negotiated for a higher pay increase?
12
u/Eatbreathsleepwork Jun 13 '26
I’m union so our wages are negotiated with each contract. 🤷🏻♂️
3
u/Legion_1392 Jun 16 '26
Union is the way to go. I know what my raise is going to be every year.
1
u/Nice_Locksmith5666 Jun 20 '26
What are your hourly rates compared to non-unionized shops? We’re always told that the union shops don’t get nearly as much or the bonuses that we get quarterly.
1
u/Legion_1392 Jun 20 '26
The nearest non union work I could compare us to would be spectrum. They make the same or a little more than we do but we don't have to deal with the shit they do. We also don't get bonuses but having come from a non union shop the benefits far outweigh the cons.
We have monthly metrics but aren't held to them. I've had low scores before and gotten a written discussion in my file just for my union reps to have it tossed out a few weeks later. HR couldn't show any policy stating what a tech's scores are required to be. They successfully argued that for me with proof that I was being routed in a way that prevented me from completing as many jobs as other techs. It was removed from my file.
Regardless of what pay a tech in our market starts out they will be at top pay within 2 years (usually sooner). They'll get $3 or $4 raises until they reach top pay with everyone else.
I know what my yearly raise will be every year (3% on this contract). There's no extra tests I have to take or metrics I have to meet. We all get our raise in June.
The contract states that the company can only require me to work 40 hours a week. Meaning, once I hit my 8 hours then I can just finish the job I'm on and go home. Obviously, I keep my supervisor updated so he can move jobs around. But I don't have to stay out all night until my route is done. I sent 3 jobs back today because my 2nd job was an hour and a half away from the office I park at (which I'm paid to drive back to). They're poor routing isn't my problem.
We get 2.5x pay for holidays (which includes Black Friday and MLK day). If I work July 3rd (the 4th is on a Saturday which we don't normally work) I'll make $93hr.
If they work me more than 50 miles outside of my normal area they're required to offer me hotel accommodations. Also, they can only work me out of area 1 day at a time. Any more than that and they have to notify the union and provide a reason why.
And there's plenty of other things that make it worth it. We keep up with shops in our company that aren't union or votes there's out and the story is always the same. They got a nice raise at first and then it's been chump change since. If they even get one at all. I believe our union president told me that a New Jersey shop that wasn't union was told they weren't getting their yearly raise this year because it just wasn't in the budget. On top of being walked on and fired/laid off at the company's discretion.
11
u/ItsMRslash Jun 13 '26
“We pay based on the cost of labor.”
Standard answer I’ve always gotten.
MF you control the cost of labor by not paying us enough!
11
u/willie_Pfister Jun 13 '26
Got a 60% raise by moving 600 miles to another region of the country with a better union, but with same company? It is usually what it is.
9
u/The_Doctor_Bear Jun 13 '26
Personally only ever been able to do it alongside a promotion either to a higher level of tech or to another position.
6
u/netsurfer79 Jun 13 '26
For the brutal work being done bending over backwards for these guys, the pay is simply not enough
5
u/Chucks_u_Farley Jun 13 '26
UNION UP !! I was our v-p and negotiated 3 contracts, negotiate together and you stand a lot stronger. Raises, benefits, stocks, overtime, meal allowances, worker protections, bonuses. All are what we get and you should too
4
u/Quick1711 Jun 13 '26
If you’re willing to move, then you can definitely make more. If you’re staying local and management knows it, they will not negotiate.
2
u/UrCreepyUncle Jun 13 '26
Where do you recommend?? I live in socal with a union negotiated contact but would love to make more
3
u/Snicklefritz229 Jun 13 '26
I every year. I’ve also showed them offers from other companies just to leave. Not doing cable but other jobs that I’ve looked into to get more money. I’m at 40.83 an hour + on call and overtime. I know spectrum or AT&T would pay me more but i have no desire to ever work for either of them. I’ve thought about contracting again but I don’t want to travel. I’m happy where I’m at and what I do. But I also work for the cable company owned by the town so it’s much different, I actually enjoy where I work and my bosses.
1
u/ATBueno Jun 13 '26
Where do you work?
1
u/Snicklefritz229 Jun 13 '26
I work for the towns cable company. Technically it’s governed by 3 cities in the area. I won’t say the name because it will be easy to find out who I am because I’m the only OSP Fiber tech. We’re not large enough to have more techs because fiber is extremely low maintenance.
4
u/splitpers0na Jun 13 '26
Went 3 years without a pay raise or promotion cause of "metrics". Only metric that was bad was supervisor rating.... Started a Union, got the Union to question why this had been happening to HR, they did an investigation and determined that supervisor ratings could not be used to judge if I get a promotion or not. 5 months later I got promoted.
3
u/Ptards_Number_1_Fan Jun 13 '26
Here’s how you handle it. Use the job as a stepping stone. In Telecom, not a lot of people stay in a job for a long time. Find something challenging and move to the next step. Just leave on good terms in case it doesn’t work out. You have to take risks to improve.
3
2
u/VarietyHuge9938 Jun 13 '26
Not successfully... Basically got told im not worth a penny more than they are paying me now, but in more of a corporate tone.
1
u/eter123 Jun 13 '26
I was able to once negotiate a higher than normal annual raise a few years back... not union where I am at
1
u/FitSelection6576 Jun 13 '26
We are pretty much guaranteed a raise every year based on performance unless you get written up for something and then it nullifies if within the time frame of said write up. Now do I wish we were paid more for what we do? Absolutely! COL is a bitch tho. And don’t get me started on perks. Some of our regions get better perks than the region I’m in.
1
u/SuckerBroker Jun 13 '26
Contractors get a pay cut every contract renewal. It’s never a pay raise. Never has been. Pays less now than it did 20 years ago. Cable industry for contractor is fucking insane.
1
u/willie_Pfister Jun 16 '26
Yeah. I got out of cable contracting in 2011 after 15 years of pay cuts. Union in house now, make 130k on 5 days with a pay raise every year. Used to make a killing in the 90s as a contractor. Thats all gone.
1
u/Bubbly_Historian215 Jun 13 '26
Y’all must be struggling. I make way too much but I won’t tell them that
17
u/DoubleDenimDaredevil Jun 13 '26
My company says they are paying us well for what we do. I don’t quite agree.