To go to work on this oil spill was also a choice, your choice. No one held a gun to your head and made you stay in the class. I personlly know one of the instructors that gave a course for one of the employers and watched the video of the class he recorded and on that tape it specifically shows the instructor tell the class that the employer is paying for the course and that the certificates will be the poossession of the employer. Not one student complained at that time nor left. It was made perfectly clear and disclaimers were attached to the application that employees signed (which I may add that were approved by the Florida Attorney Generals Office). So why an issue after you people leave or get terminated. As for the course itself a training class is Hazmat a course is Hazwoper. Look at Websters for the definition of a course and training there is a difference. Employers do supply Hazmat but not Hazwoper.

ACCOUNTING CLASSES ARE CAREER CLASSES THEY ARE BY YOUR CHOICE BECAUSE YOU HAVE CHOSEN TO PURSUE THAT FIELD. YOU HIREDBY YOUR EMPLOYER BASED ON YOUR EDUCATION FOR THAT JOB. A HAZWHOP CLASS IS NOT A CAREER CLASS. IT IS A TRAINING COURSE. MORE ALONG THE LINES OF A SAFETY COURSE ACTUALLY. SAME CLASS OF TRAINING AS CONFINED SPACE ENTRY, CHEMICAL HANDLING, FIRE AND RERESCUE TEAM AT CERTAIN EMPLOYERS I COULD CONTINUE…MRTONYJONES IS ON THE RIGHT PAGE. I NEVER HAD TO PAY FOR TOW MOTOR TRAINING OR FIRE TRAINING OR RESPRP TRAINING OR VESSEL ENTRY TRAINING.
AND I DON’T NEED OR DID NOT NEED A HAND OUT FREE RIDE WELFARE OR A JOB FROM ANYONE I WANTED TO WORK.

No you are wrong BP did not pay the employers for education and employees did get paid for training they got paid to take the onsite safety class given by BP once employed. My best friend is one of those contractors and did not receive not one red cent for the cost he incurred to educate the people that work for him. And if you took a Hazwoper class at GCCC you were paid by the state as they co-oped it with Work Force and grants. As I stated earlier go sign up for an accounting class at GCCC and see if you can find an employer to foot the bill for your certification and pay you to sit there.  A 40 HOUR HAZWOPER Course is an educatinal course not training. If you want a free ride get on welfare.

Well i sat in a 34 hour hazwhop class at GCCC and i was paid 20 bucks an hour…And for the ones that are feeling sorry for the employers, you should know that i was told by the instructor that all of the contractors were paid any where from 60-70 dollars an hour per person for training. But if ya still need someone to feel sorry for, it should be the hundreds of people that are about to be out of work when BP pulls out of here for good.

paid for.  Go sign up at Gulf Coast for a course in accounting and see if you can find an employer willing to pay for the class and pay you to sit there while you take it.  Thats what your asking these employers to do.

No I wasn’t in line but my husband and daughter were and GLAD, GRATEFUL and APPRECIATIVE to have been given this oppurtunity. People today think the world owes them everything. But hardly there is such a thing called WORK for it. The point you fail to realize was this was not training, this was an educational course.  Think of it this way do employer’s pay you to go take college courses? No, they don’t and that’s what this is an educational course. Training is the onsite BP trainig class you took to get your yellow card. Oh and by the way got paid to sit through. The only time in my career that an employer ever paid for me to take course that I received certification in I had to work for them for 2 years or I had to pay it back and that is all I see these people are asking for. You could hav taken through another employer or taken one of the paid classes I see advertised everyday. No instead you all want to whine that the employer owes you, owes you what a certification that they paid

ON ANOTHER NOTE YOU WERE NOT IN THE LINE OF PEOPLE THAT STOOD IN THE HEAT FOR 5 HOURS GOING THRU THE APPLICATION PROCESS OR THE LINE FOR THE CLASS. BUT ITS BEEN INTERESTING CHATTING WITH YOU HAVE A GOOD DAY!

CONTRACTED THRU A PRIME OR A SUB ITS STILL THRU BP IN THE LONG RUN AND THEY ARE STILL MAKING DOLLARS OFF OF THE PEOPLE THEY HIRE AND TRAIN.
I DIDN’T SAY IT WAS LAW TO PAY FOR TRAINING. I SAID IT IS NORMAL PRACTICE FOR A EMPLOYER THAT REQUIRES TRAINING TO COVERS THE COSTS AND PAY WAGES WHILE YOU ARE TRAINING.
WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO DRIVE THE DISTANCE ( SOME PEOPLE DROVE FROM BONIFAY FROM ALTHA ) AND COULD NOT REALLY AFFORD TO DRIVE THE DISTANCE, AND THEN SIT FOR 40 HRS ( A WHOLE WORK WEEK) WITHOUT PAY AND NOT BE SURE OF EMPLOYMENT?
GAC DEFINITLY DID NOT INFORM PEOPLE THAT SEATING WAS FIRST COME FIRST SERVE.THEY COULD HAVE AND SHOULD HAVE NOTIFIED 250 PEOPLE THEY WERE CHOSEN FOR CLASS AND INFORMED THE REST THEY WOULD CALL OUT FOR THE NEXT CLASS. REQUIRED TRAINING FOR JOB DUTIES SHOULD BE AND USALLY IS PAID FOR BY THE EMPLOYER LIKE I SAID. CHECK SOME OF YOUR EMPLOYERS LIKE PAPERMILL, CHEMICAL CO.,POWER CO.
THEY DO NOT EXPECT YOU TO TRAIN AT YOUR EXPENSE.

Hey Cowgirl, if you remember a month ago or so BP had announced that they were not paying for the training that it was the responsibility of each contractor to educate their own people. No where in the labor laws does it state that an employer must pay an employee for training or incurr the cost of certified classes for them.  And your statement about all of these contractors are contracted through BP is incorrect only the prime contractor is contracted directly with BP and subcontractors are contracted out from the prime contractors and subbed again and again.  Before people comment they might want to learn the true facts and not just assumptions or go on rumors.  I personally happen to know that GAC is NOT contracted directly through BP they work for a subcontractor to the prime contractor.  Ablebody and SouthernCat are also subbed out from a sub-contractor to the prime contractor. People really need to learn how this oil spill really works before running off at the mouth

HELLOASSUMMING YOU WERE REFFERING TO MY COMMENTS ABOUT GAC ... PEOPLE ALL THESE CONTRACTORS ARE CONTRACTED BY BP. MEANING THEY ARE PAID FOR ALL THE PEOPLE THEY TRAIN.SO ITS ONLY RIGHT THAT THEY PAY THE PEOPLE IN TRAINING. I HAVE WORKED FOR INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYERS BEFORE (AND THAT IS WHAT WERE ARE TALKING ABOUT HERE ) AND THEY ALL PAY FOR ANY TRAINING REQUIRED FOR YOUR JOB WHILE YOU ARE IN THEIR EMPLOY. THE CONTRACTORS I AMWILLING TO BET WERE ALSO COMPENSATED FOR EVERY PERSON THAT WENT THROUGH AND TOOK A HAZWHOP CLASS. WHETHER THEY PASSED IT OR NOT. OTHERWISE GAC FOR EXAMPLE WOULD HAVE GIVEN THE COURSE I REFRENCED MY PREVIOUS POST ABOUT AT A LOCATION THAT COULD HAVE ACCOMODATED THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THEY ACCEPTED APPLICATIONS,DRUG SCREENED AND BACK GROUND CHECK THE WEEK PRIOR TO THE CLASS.
ALOT OF PEOPLE HAD NO IDEA THEY COULD GO ONLINE AND GET THEIR (OSHA) HAZWHOP TRAINING CERTIFICATE WITHOUT ALL THE STRINGS ATTACHED AND AGGGREVATION INVOLVED THESE CONTRACTORS GAVE THEM.

Hello people, lets first address not being paid for training. There is such a thing as not paid training, happens all the time. Second of all should employers train people to go to work for someone else. NO! Employers may pay for training for an employee then in return that employee MUST work for the employer for a specified period of time (typically 6 months or more depending on the cost of the course) or they must pay back the cost to the employer. As a person who manages a human resources department I find this totally rediculous. Get a life folks and quit whinning. Did you learn anything in those classes. If so be grateful you experienced something you didn’t know before.

YES LETS DO CHECK GAC CONTRACTORS. AFTER STANDING IN LINE W/ ABOUT 400 OTHERS FOR 5 HRS TO HAND IN A APPLICATION, SUBMIT TO A BACKGOUND CHECK, PULMONARY TEST AND A URINE TEST IF WE PASSED WE WERE TOLD TO ARRIVE AT GCCC THE FOLLOWING TUES FOR HAZWHOP CLASS. OUR INSTRUSTION SHEET STATED FIRST COME FIRST SEATED.. NOT FIRST COME FIRST SERVED. I AM WILLING TO BET NEARLY ALL 400 OF THE APPLICANTS SHOWED UP ONTIME AND ONLY THE FIRST 250 WERE ACCEPTED. SOME OF THESE PEOPLE DROVE FROM GA. GAC EXPECTED PEOPLE TO SIT IN A 40 CLASS W/O PAY.THAT IS NOT CORRECT PROCEEDURE IF YOU ARE DOING REQUIRED TRAINING FOR A EMPLOYER YOU ARE SUPOSSED TO BE COMPENSATED. SORRY SORRY SORRY
THEY SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES. MOST OF THE PEOPLE THAT SHOWED UP NEEDED THOSE JOBS.

WOW its about time ....why don’t we see gulf asphalt in the mix? i have heard that they withheld certifications too.but i also heard that they were the only contractor that paid workers on time…(who knows) fraud is running rapid on these oil spill clean up operations.