Union reps and HSR's always attract the laziest most useless tradies...
Given I mentioned Unions and started the derailment I'll chime in to really drive this one home. My best mate went to do some work for a mine as an external contractor. He went in to the site office for his induction with the local HSR/Union rep. When they turned the lights on in the demountable building there was one out and the union guy would not proceed until this was fixed. My mate who is literally 6'8" told the guy to give him the bulb and he'd change it for the guy as he could reach it.
The HSR guy was having none of that and disappeared for 15 minutes to get a 2 step ladder and, I shit you not, a plastic yellow triangle "barrier" to go round his "work site". He went baaa-fucking-listic when he got back with all this and found my mate had already changed it. He tried to have him banned from the site etc. My mate was like, "I don't give a fuck, you guys called me, I've got tonnes of work" and left. A week later he got a very apologetic call from the site asking him to come back. He's got no idea what happened to that dude but he went back several times and never saw him again.
And story 2. I am an air traffic controller. Our "union" (term used loosely) is, I believe, the most expensive in the country. We pay $2600 per year for the "honour" of being a member. A while back we had a woman who couldn't do the job decide that instead of going quietly she'd go scorched earth and made a series of thankfully, provably false claims about a few of my colleagues. What did the union do? They went to all of the women both past and present that had worked there and asked them how sexist and hostile our workplace is. They didn't check her claims before doing this. An even cursory examination of them ended up showing that people were on leave etc at the times these things supposedly occurred. To be clear, I am fortunate enough to have worked or still work with some amazing women and thankfully ALL of them called bullshit on her claims and told the union to fuck off. They then called us and told us what the union was doing behind their members backs.
That's what I pay $2600 per year for???? Rant over. Sorry to have derailed the thread.
Hopefully this whole thing gets sorted before Cairns!!!, There, back on track.