Sim Tech/Building Maintenance Specialists

[guest]

Just out of curiosity how many other site require their Sim Techs to perform Building Maintenance/Janitorial duties? i.e. building air conditioning, building electrical, telephone, computer support, move furniture, mop floors, unplug toilets etc.

[guest]

Any PANAM site requires you to be a sim tech/bldg maint/janitor/att:

[Fast Eddie]

Other duteis as assigned. toilet:
Been the case for most places that I've worked.

[The Pirate]

the only cleaning we do is in the sim cockpit for dialy's. our simtech job description is work as necessary to maintain sims and to prep for daily pre-flights,(FAA pre-flight check list)and other work assigned by management to maintain the sim's. we have building maint for a/c's upstream of the sim itself , light bulbs outside the sim's and the i.t.guys take care of the non sim pc's and the pbx/phones. it was my vow to never mop,wax,dump trash, or do laundry for anyone other than myself when i left the navy. so far so good.

[Luke]

The nice little catch phrase " and all other duties " .

[rabyson1]

box2: You poor basta*ds. Sounds as though you need to look into a real simulation career. I do sims not house work!!!!! Until then .......... nutkick: bow28:

[reprob8]

I worked at one site where the site director, a retired colonel, wanted us to paint the floors, rails, and office walls. I made it a point to inform my boss that that was the first and last time we did that kind of sh_t detail.

[Fast Eddie]

It just makes good business sense to use the resources that are in your facility and provides good customer service. Do you call an electrician to your house before you check the breakers; call a plumber to plunge a toilet? For small operations, it may not be effective to hire full time IT or maintenance personnel to change a phone cord or a light bulb. If you have this luxury, prop your feet back up and enjoy.

[reprob8]

Problem is that once you start getting flexibe, it becomes harder to draw the line at what you shouldn't have to do. One of the reasons I got out of the service is because of their silly little "make-work" details. I hired on as a sim tech, not a painter, plumber, or facilities worker.

[guest]

It just makes good business sense to use the resources that are in your facility ....

Do you call a manager, instructor, engineer, programmer or office help to unclog a toilet? No ... Just MAINTENANCE!

Hire a janitor, it's the cost of doing good buisness.

[guest]

Do you call a manager, instructor, engineer, programmer or office help to unclog a toilet? No ... Just MAINTENANCE!

Hire a janitor, it's the cost of doing good buisness.


I would utilize the engineer (hardware) resource they should be more qualified then sim techs.

[rabyson1]

For those of you that defer to your company and do facility work, you deserve what you get. For those of you that stand up for yourself or others, I applaud you. Bottom line is do your job as it was outlined when you hired on.
Now quit all of the complaining, boo-hoo boo-hoo boo-hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TomPrehm]

Wouldn't consider calling on a Sim Tech to do 'clean up' in a non-Simulator area. Sim Techs here (Southwest) do clean the cockpits as required and any hydraulic related clean up.

We have janitors for the office and break areas as well as the bathrooms. Building Maintenance does any required maintenance on lights, toilets sinks etc.

Tom

[E_ti]

rant2: I definately do not think that "facility" maintenance is part of my job description...
But if the Instructor is mopping the bathroom floor, I'll carry out the trash.biggrin:

[Jeff]

I'm a government COR meaning I set requirements for and monitor aircrew training system (ATS) contracts. Sim maintenance is one function of an ATS. I am a former simulator maintenance tech and a former computer scientist. My view of what should fall into the sim maintenance function and what shouldn't are: sim techs should be responsible for housekeeping in their maintenance and work areas. That is they should work and be responsible for maintaining tidy and clean work areas. In my opinion they should not be facilities maintainers. Facilities maintenance involves structural, plumbing, heating/air conditioning, janitorial and a lot of other specialized work. Asking sim techs to do facilities maintenance is just a bad management practice and I discouraged a government contractor from employing sim techs to do these kind of jobs. There were safety implications because the sim maintenance contractor did not employ good OSHA practices when trying to be "mr. odd job". I pointed this out to the site manager and said he was headed for trouble in using unskilled labor to perform risky tasks (meaning risky for sim techs). He complied, his workers were happy and I was happy. The contractor now subcontracts facilities work when it is part of their tasking. A telephone man should work on telephones, a plumber should work on plumbing and a sim tech should maintain simulators and training equipment. If you're not getting fair treatment from your employer perhaps you should consider becoming a union member.

[nastyb]

Being a union member doesn't always stop you from having to do the work first, and then filing a grievance later.

[Gizmotech]

hide1: So far I have taken hits for letting the air handlers in the computer lab be completely maintenance free. Ie: I asked about the servicing and was accused of not setting up contract service for the units before I was hired to work on the systems . Just great if I had my way they would be under contract maintenance from the start. I have other things to work on!

[ranger]

Our primary job is simulator/device maintenance, but as time permits we've been known to get involved in facilities maintenance. As long as the priorities are left to us to sort out, we've not had too many problems. It's nice to get outside the same old same old every once in a while too.

[Jeff]

Being a union member doesn't always stop you from having to do the work first, and then filing a grievance later.

Yes that's right. But the better employer will cease asssigning this kind of work following collective bargaining that rules in your favor. Its better than what you might otherwise get as a non-union employee. Its one of the bennies of paying union dues.

[nastyb]

And what union would you be talking about? And where is it happening?snide:

[phakeflyer]

So, What are union dues these days?

[nastyb]

You'll have to ask the others, I don't work there any more.

[guest]

We have to carry out Building Maintenance,Janitorial duties, building air conditioning, building electrical, telephone, computer support, move furniture, mop floors, unplug toilets, do the gardening, wash the building, repiar photo copiers. If you can think of it we have to do it. Our contact also says other work as required.
I dont mind a bit of change of pace, but being called an under utilised resource, to justify having to carry out any whim is a bit much....

p.s. we dont have any union here that we fall under

[The Pirate]

I worked for an outfit like that once, stayed with them for 12 years, the janitorial parts sucked, but the travel, well, hmmm that part sucked too, now that i think about it it all pretty much sucked, but i got a pretty good career out of it, sim tech. the service would be the only place i would do any of that stuff. the other stuff is called building maint worker and plumber, which, by the way, plumbers make way more than sim techs do where i work. and building electrician, faawgett abawt it!! air conditioning contractor's, take a second on your home!! you need an association compact or a union, people.
IBT, IAM, TWU, something get your duties defined, unless because of these "other duties and responsibilities" you making like 46.00 an hour. then, let me know where to send a resume'
nuff said.

[dalsimtech]

...would you be willing to have those items to your list IF the company would keep your pay and benefits the same and get their required savings from dumping the contractors currently doing them?

Personally, if Mr. DAL walked up to me and said he'd return my pay to its former level, or even somewhere near it, and return the majority of my prior benefits if I'd agree to this, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

We all know that there is a part of this job that is like being the proverbial fireman. The sims go through cycles like anything else and when they are running fine and the work is slow, I'm not too big of a man to clean up after myself. In fact, as far as the bathroom goes, I'd actually prefer to clean it myself. Frankly, I think our current cleaners are letting the mops stay wet and sour. The place stinks and I think I could do a better job myself. That place and our whole shop would be spit-shined! drillse:

[The Pirate]

hoooah!!! Arrrr Arrrr Arrr!!
Get Er Done!!!

[mbushaw]

Techs are paid for their knowledge, ability, and time. If I was really spending 8 hours a day working directly on the simulator and associated equipment, I would object to 'other tasks.' And we all know that there is enough work to fill a real 8 hour day. But like most of us, a good part of my day is spent doing stuff I want to do, that may or may not have anything to do with keeping the machines running (like posting to this thread). If my boss has no trouble emptying his own trash, I'd have trouble saying I'm too good to do it too.

[guest]

I once worked for Airbugs Training Center and they had The Sim. techs change facility light bulbs, but no cleaning. I and my Bachelors Degree really resented it, but the worst part was working with Airbug management. What an arrogant lot (French). They used to bring French sim techs over for any special projects like acceptance tests on a new box or hardware mods on existing devices. Evidently American techs are too stupid. It would have been preferable for Airbugs to have had those French "engineers"(european for technician) changing the light bulbs instead of monkeying with OUR sims.

[guest]

Note to Sim shop management: The Chinese used to pay there doctors to keep them healthy and not pay them if they became sick. If a Sim.tech is idle, it's probably because the devices he is in charge of aren't "sick". they generating revenue. So shut up and keep paying him. When the sim. is down or de-graded then get on his ass.cruch:

[rabyson1]

Whiners jimi1: , criers baby: or doers :smile1: !!!! lolhit: Categorize yourself. Quit Bitching. shocked: clap: pdfdf: wiggle1:

[guest]

I once worked for Airbugs Training Center and they had The Sim. techs change facility light bulbs, but no cleaning. I and my Bachelors Degree really resented it, but the worst part was working with Airbug management. What an arrogant lot (French). They used to bring French sim techs over for any special projects like acceptance tests on a new box or hardware mods on existing devices. Evidently American techs are too stupid. It would have been preferable for Airbugs to have had those French "engineers"(european for technician) changing the light bulbs instead of monkeying with OUR sims.

we got CAE in our junk now, and we don't do windows, lightbulbs out of the sim, or unplug a toilet, unless you did it yourself, for nobody. management has still not change.

[bLiTzEd]

The way I see it, if my boss wants me to mop a dirty floor, they are spending what....$30 an hour on a janitor? I'll whistle and smile the whole time, because I know when the actual janitors come in they are only getting paid like $7 an hour. Does it insult my intellegence? Maybe a little, but money is money right?