The company I work for has been in business since 1945. I have been with them since 1998. It is run by 2 brothers, and now one brother's 2 sons are involved. The brother with no sons is the brains of the company. He brought the business back from near ruin when he first took over from his dad in the 80s. He is a fair, lets not get excited kind of guy. He is also a this is what I want, this is what I would do, but you're the operator, just get it done however guy. He spends 7 days a week in the office. He is on the go at 4 in the morning, and a lot of times he is still in the office at midnight. During slow times, he will take on break even jobs just to keep us working, when his nephews figure if there is nothing to do, send us home. At the height of the season, there are about 90 employees here. It's seasonal work, running from the middle of May, until the middle of December. Besides plowing snow, and hauling snow, there might be the odd job, but nothing to keep everyone working. Minimum wage here is a little over 10 bucks an hour, and I get 20, with time and a half after 50 hours. We get paid for holidays, and double time if we have to work them. The biggest perk of the job, is that I get to sleep in my bed every night, as they never work more than an hour or so away from home. The big guy is 60, and a diabetic. He has already had a few stays in the hospital from working so hard. I worry about what will happen if he gets sick and has to retire. I have a chance to go to work on a large union job. 20 days on and 10 days off. Direct flight right to the local airport. According to the collective agreement, by the time the project ends, I should be making a little over 50 an hour. Should I stick with what I have, and take the chance that by the time the big guy gives it up, that the nephews might be up to the challenge, or jump to a 4, or maybe 5 year project, and hope something else comes up when it is finished. What do you guys think. If I was single, I would have went to the oil patch years ago, but I do have a 4 year old daughter.
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