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Workers at Chile's ALMA Telescope Strike Over Working Conditions
An anonymous reader writes with this snippet from Deutsche Welle: "'Employees at the world's largest radio telescope have gone on strike after failing to reach agreement over pay and conditions. Workers say they are not sufficiently compensated for isolation and high altitude.' The strike started on Thursday, and the telescope is currently not operating. Although the project's budget is $1.1 billion, an ALMA technician earns less than $2,000 per month. How does this compare with people working at observatories in the U.S., Japan, or the European Union?"
These guys are earning $2,000 p/m more than ALMA workers who are working in US, Japan or the EU.
Lets get a comparison of wages earned by locals doing similar skilled jobs.
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Which Helpless Linux zealot/MS basher do you want to mod down today?
It sounds like they're trying to take advantage and cheat their employer, because they're in a remote area -- making them harder to fire and replace; because they see there is a good bit of money to the project --- but the management still has a fiduciary duty to spend it appropriately. Just because the project has a $1 billion budget; does not mean the facilities workers, janitors, techs, etc, get six figure salaries that are out of line with the market rate of the work to be done, and the employee's work experience.
Workers say they are not sufficiently compensated for isolation and high altitude.'. The strike started on Thursday, and the telescope is currently not operating. Although the project's budget is $1.1 billion, an ALMA technician earns less than $2.000 per month. How does this compare with people working at observatories in the U.S., Japan, or the European Union?"
Wait.... they're essentially getting $12.50 an hour for a minimum wage technician job, And they're saying their $5.25 (a huge premium) isn't compensation for high altitudes and isolation, after considering their opportunity for adventure?
Perhaps they should not have taken on that work then.
There are plenty of cook jobs at fast food restaurants that are not on the mountain.
Although the project's budget is $1.1 billion, an ALMA technician earns less than $2.000 per month.
1) Project budget is $1.1 billion. Sure, but over how many years? 1, 5, 10? Comparing a large number over many years to a monthly rate is disingenuous.
2) $2.000. WTF? Only some few european countries still use "." as a thousands separator instead of ",". This is an english language website, use english locale settings because to everyone else, that reads as $2.00 a month, which obviously has to be wrong.
3) Where does the $2000 a month figure come from anyway? It isn't in tfa. Citation needed.
And yes, I'm grumpy, I'm working because I have a major deadline next week.
You can never know everything, and part of what you do know will always be wrong. Perhaps even the most important part.
So would you get minimum wage technicians to operate a state-of-the-art gear like are these telescopes?
What could go wrong?
If you were exposed in the Atacama, you would most likely be dead in less than 48 hours. TFA touches on this, but it is emphatically not a nice place to hang out.
Sometimes I, too, chafe under the terms of my peonage.
They feared that it could be used to suppress protest or support unpopular rule.
i w... j..
sigh
just sigh
I hire a contractor for $2000 to fix my roof. He takes the job and begins work. Halfway through he says that $2000 is not enough for his isolation and high altitude. He stops the work, goes on strike demanding more money and prevents me from hiring another contractor. Someone care to explain how that is legal and not a breach of contract?
So they're making double what I do? In a country where that money is probably worth double than it is here in the U.S.? They need to STFU and get back to Jodie Fostering.
What they are saying is that $5.25 is not enough to compensate for high altitudes and isolation. I don't see how you or anyone else can judge them on that...unless you are an oil worker from Alaska (earning double regular wages).
The cost of living in Chile for american expats is under $1000 a month.
The average annual income is $11,039.
If the observatory workers are making $2000 a month, then they seem to be making the equivalent of about $90,000 in the U.S. for local goods and services- tho very little in terms of world products (like imported automobiles and air conditioners).
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
They are in an isolated place that is crap to be in doing highly specialized work on very expensive machinery and making what SHOULD be considered minimum wage in the US. I am glad to see them stand up for something better than that crap and I wish them luck.
Someone needs to take some logic courses. And then some courses on capitalism. BTW, you pay for your text messages? Really?
I thought this is exactly the kind of thing grad students were for?
Techician jobs range from about $20,000 to $35,000
For example:
https://utdirect.utexas.edu/apps/hr/jobs/nlogon/120716015331
Obviously there needs to be a bonus for working up there, freezing you ass off
There does? Last time I checked I didn't get a winter bonus up here in Canada where the temperatures hit -40C. -10C for a _high_ counts as heat wave in January. Even the schools will send the kids out for break times as long as the temperature is above -23C. Except for the altitude those conditions are mild compared to a typical Canadian winter and the Alberta minimum wage is only C$1,854/month with an undoubtedly higher cost of living.
As you point out more details are needed to do a fair comparison but, with the details available so far, it frankly looks like they are not being teated that shabbily.
You should try an Alberta winter sometime. It can get down to -40C and I've seen -53C with windchill. They often put out warnings about frostbite warnings that exposed skin will freeze in seconds. In january we are lucky if we hit -10C for a _high_. Without the proper attire and equipment you would not survive 48 minutes let alone hours.
$2000 a month is about what the average non-PhD technician/junior scientist on a government funded basic research project makes in the United States. A junior PhD will make about twice that. Astronomy is not a particularly well funded branch of science (compared to molecular biology or nanotechnology, for example), I would expect their technicians to generally make less than average.
If you want to work in basic research (in any capacity other than PI), be prepared to live very frugally.
"Although the project's budget is $1.1 billion, an ALMA technician earns less than $2.000 per month."
Does this pass as logic on Slashdot?
If you were exposed in the Atacama, you would most likely be dead in less than 48 hours.
I live in a major US city where the same is true for a few months out of the year. Yawn.
Please help metamoderate.
Go find work elsewhere then.
Striking just shows at they can't. Otherwise they already would have.
I've worked in high-altitude mines in northern Chile and suggest that the working conditions are similar, but the pay is better in mining. There is a large pool of skilled and semi-skilled people who work in the high altitude mines (Collahuasi, Quebrada Blanca, Pascua Lama, Los Bronces, Andina, El Teniente just to name a few) that are the same labour pool that the telescopes are competing for.
The demand for skilled people in mining is driving up wages in Chile. Since these telescopes are competing for the same skilled people, they better pay competitive wages or else watch their people head elsewhere.
God damn this place went down hill once they started issuing six digit ID's.
Ain't it the truth!
The cost of that cleanup, of course, will be borne by taxpayers, not industry.
...or could just mean that you can't abide some asshole exploiting your fellow man, and you have the courage to stay and fight.
They feared that it could be used to suppress protest or support unpopular rule.
nationalist much?
If you were lost in Manhattan, chances are fairly good that you could walk to shelter before succumbing to the elements. And the Atacama is just about all dry and cold every day of the year.
Tell that to the forty or so homeless people a year who die of exposure in NYC.
Please help metamoderate.