Reader submitted comment and questions 12/5/25

From a reader:

"How about that, we fire a bunch of the knowledge in the field and today we post the operator position for 2026. My question for the union is. If these folks get hired after the union is ratified will they be included. Will the union reps be in the interview process. If one of the guys that got RIF’d wants to re apply is that even possible. 

Now a question about pay. Rumors are going around that the new pay structure is in effect. I personally know guys that won’t leave their current job for $45/Hr and a Conoco patch. Will the union be pushing to reinstate our old pay for the step positions? Or are we just going to push talent away with low wages. 

Thank you in advance. "

Yep- its really surprising isn’t it?  It was only 1 week ago we had the big bosses coming around explaining why they HAD to cut positions (and oh BTW you lazy fucks are lucky we only cut 10% of you, other groups got hit harder, you should be kissing our feet in thanks).  Yep, they “HAD” to do a REDUCTION IN FORCE…but then they immediately hired apprentices as operators and now we’re posting for even more operator positions.  Completely unexpected isn’t it?  It’s almost like they could have not fired the Dukers, Nates, McCaugheys and Kyles of our fields and been in a much better position…. They literally shoved hundreds of years of experience out the door, spent millions paying off their discharge “packages” and now they need people-  but not just any people-  cheap people with little to no experience.

Did you happen to notice that the new hiring posting no longer requires 5 years of oil field experience? It’s only 3 now.  And 2 years of operator experience was reduced to 1. No North Slope experience requirement either.  It’s almost like they’re begging dudes from Texas or North Dakota to apply…. Which I suppose makes sense after the Kenai refinery guys said “no thanks” to their job offers.  So what does this mean for us?  This means your future F’n New Guys are going to be even harder to get up to speed than our former FNG’s.  This means there’s more double checking you’ll need to do to keep them from killing themselves or burning your plant to the ground.  I suppose it’s a good thing you have all that free time to train them…. Oh, wait, well never mind. 

Alright, sorry about the sarcastic rant, lets get to your questions:

Will the FNGs be part of the union?  Yes.  All future hires will be.

Will they get to vote to decide if we go union?  No.  That list is now locked.    

Should your buddies leave their jobs for a $45/hr job and CP patch?  No, they can make that a refinery in Texas without flying here and have a third cheaper cost of living.  Or stay on the Kenai and make more than that.  Should they apply AFTER we get our CBA and wages secured?  Absolutely, but not a minute before; why walk into this shitshow mid-act?

 Will the union push to get our old pay back?  Yes. 

 Can the RIF’d guys reapply? ….uhhhhh, I think so?  Will the company hire them?  No, because the company fired them because they were vocal supporters of unionizing (or thought they were), so they’ll find some excuse that they’re not acceptable applicants (but they happened to be acceptable employees here for 20 years…but then just “Had” to be let go, but only because Ryan Lance that big meanie made us cut 25%)...  shit, I’m being sarcastic again- sorry- it’s my coping mechanism to keep me from calling out these lying bastards right to their faces.  

Will there be a Union rep on the hiring panel for new employees? This is something we could bargain for. It would depend on how we write our CBA and what the company agrees to, but we won't have any say it before we ratify our first CBA.