I hear you! "spanners" just exist we are taken for granted. I bet in the eyes of management they think the o/t and daily allowances that we get makes up for what we give up. our nice homes (anythings got to be better than a hotel room) and how much resteraunt food can you eat its all the same after a while and lest not forget probably the most important FAMILY!
We as engineers as stated in this thread never stick together there is always someone that wants to suck up to management someone always trying to get ahead of the rest and in most cases someone that will work for cheaper rates just for a foot in the door. In engineering we all back stab each other to get a type course so that we can get that next rating but all pilots are type rated from day one all get the same courses.
Maybe it should be mandatory that all engineers should be given type courses as well. we as a whole need to show ourselves more respect and stand up for what we want.
Sure its a nice thing you can increase your take home pay with a few hours of o/t but wouldn't be better to get more wthout the o/t.
I believe we as licensed engineers should be paid for the knowledge we have, and I believe we should have max hours of duty just like pilots our job is just as critical as any in this industry, if we make a mistake it don't matter how good the crew is you've got problems!
We should be paid respective of time and knowledge.
when you compare pays with pilots ie captain on type=lic. eng on type who earns more whats the difference. I'm talking base pays only.
even when you add o/t I bet the pilot earns more and does less hours!
there is no comparison between an engineer who is/has been rated on type for 10years and a pilot of equal qualifications on the same type.(annual income)
I believe for to long engineers have been the worst enemy of the engineer.