Starting an awareness organization / petition
 

As if I already don't have enough on my plate, I have something else I'd like to get the ball rolling with on the side.

Do any of you bros have experience with starting a petition and getting some type of awareness organization started?

I'm trying to put something together for all construction workers in the USA.

No, I'm not looking for equal rights, more money or something similar that unions would try and push. This is more or less something that deals with the states giving builders/home owners permits.

move to a right to work state. you live in North Korea dude.

I thought it was towns that gave the permits. I know in Maine it's a lot harder to get building permits in some towns than others.

Sorry, I don't know how to start anything.

I'm where the money is broham. Not to mention within hours of NYC.

I'll probably stay here for awhile, if I move it'd be someplace like North Dakota or Wisconsin. lol

Yes. It is the town/city that give the permit, but to make it easier to get this passed, I think it would have to be at state level.

I guess I might as well share it with you guys to give you an idea. If someone beat me to it then it'd save me from having to find time to do it AND I'd benefit from it anyways. lol

Really though, its just an idea I had. I have tons of ------- ideas when I smoke and I try to write them down. Usually I'm too lazy to, so only the real in depth ones stick around in my head.

NPNP - No Port-o-pot? No Permit! (or something along those lines)

If you don't have a port-o-john on the site, you cant pull permits. Simple as that.

You CANNOT expect people to work in the elements for the entire day without having to eventually go to the bathroom. Maybe most people don't know, but its bullshit. Try working all day, sweating, eventually eating/drinking throughout the day and you have NOWHERE to ---- or piss. I mean I don't care about taking a piss wherever I have to, but its still bullshit. But shitting? Come the ---- on.

So this is a way to direct my aggression into something positive. I really don't know what the hell I have to do to make this something serious, but I'll figure it out. I'm going to fight for construction workers everywhere to get this thing out in the open.

Sure, if your a framer, roofer, electrician, plumber, etc., the builder probably already got one on site. Once there's a lot of foot traffic they usually pony up and get one. Its us grunts that get shafted, like the excavators and foundation guys.

The deal is, its less than $100 a month to get one. I see no reason the states cant make it mandatory to have one dropped off before a single permit can be pulled. Totally makes sense to me. Anyone else think so?

Back when I worked concrete, Vash, I never saw a site that didn't have a port-o-potty. Even if we were just the foundation guys.

Are you certain it's not something specific to your state? 'Cause that's ------- mind-numbingly obvious man. People gonna have to take a ---- somewhere, and it's a potential health hazard.

^^^^ Woah back from the ban pretty quick there buddy. I'm guessing you paid off brain to make this happen....lol

Lets put it this way. I'm on more jobs WITHOUT toilets than I am with them. Maybe some states are already on the ball, but I cant imagine CT is the only one that isnt.

Some people we work for have them on site like clockwork, while others never get one. Sometimes the job site is out in the middle of ------- nowhere, while others are surrounded by houses, women and children on all sides. Try to sneak a piss on a tiny 1/2 acre lot surrounded by houses and spectators. Not easy and still bullshit.

I pay off no one to remove bans (Rick voice.mp3).

But seriously, it baffles me why CT wouldn't be all over that. It isn't even a significant added expense for construction (< $100 a month? That's not even a rounding error for construction!), and it's not exactly something you can avoid doing.

Where I live permits really dont mean ----. A buddy of mine built a bad ass shed in his back yard and the permit guy came by and was like well it needs this and that and this added and my buddy just said no. Guy left and they never heard another word.

Another buddy built a really nice fence they, I was some nice looking red wood or something. Guy came by and told him hey its two feet too high, and my buddy just goes it really nice redwood right? The guy says yah but its too high, to which my buddy replied but its redwood, its so pretty. Guy said but its too high, Buddy says yah but look at how nice the redwood is. This went on for like 5 minutes, guy left and they never heard anything again.

I'm not talking about backyard weekend projects, I'm talking about doing it for a living. Driving an hour to the job, getting out of the truck having to piss so bad it hurts, only to find there's no place to go. :vash:

Permits do mean something around here. Obviously severity is dependant on the size of the project. A shed or fence isn't the end of the world. A 20x40 addition with a bull basement is.

The only reason I even bring up the permits are because 90% of major work requires a permit and most contractors get signed paperwork saying they've been obtained by the owner. So if states where to put a mandatory "job site bathroom" policy into motion, before one could do any major work they would need a port-o-pot before the permit.

Heh, it just hit me Vash.

Are you supporting government regulation/interference with the free market?!? Trollface.jpg

:drama::drama::drama:

LOL

The government already has complete control over what/where/when we build something. I'd rather not let government get involved, but its really the only way.

Actually, it'd be making them work for us. Fighting to have this put in place, when it should already be common sense anyways.

This way when the private contractors go to work every day they can feel like human beings while making an honest living.

I don't know a single contractor that wouldn't be on board with something like this. This is hardly anything that's going to negatively effect anyone.

For the record, I'm not speaking on behalf of union contractors. They already get the red carpet treatment, so the toilets are the least of their worries.

Put it in your employment contract. Stop expecting the state to step in for you.

I can think of a negative situation.

Porta shitters become mandatory. Since they are required their demand becomes less elastic (as in demand is less affected by price) so the suppliers raise prices, because the builders still have to pay for them. Then the prices get so out of hand that the builders as the government for assistance because shitter prices are killing their margins, then the government steps in to regulate something they regulated. FAIL.

More government, more problems.

You probably have zero experience to speak from, so just let your ass do the talking for you.

Very true. I agree.

I'm NOT a government freak like some of you dudes are. I would never work for them nor ask them for any help. I'd like to live my life with as little gov involvement as possible.

However, we still have one, thus why I feel we should use it.

I cant believe you guys are opposed to this. Granted, probably the wrong crowd to discuss something like this with, but I didn't expect such a negative response.

Maybe I'll so what sackington suggests and revise our contracts to say "toilet on site mandatory" somewhere. ---- trying to help anyone else.

Vash you are not going to get anywhere with this.

You are talking about political action, and possibly changes in laws. Without significant effort, research, and experience, you will just waste your time.

By significant I mean dedicating your life to it. Trust me, I know lobbyists.

Yeah, not looking to become a lobbyist.

Maybe I'll just send a quick email to the city mayor to see if he has any opinion on the matter.

I'm not looking for anything other than a god damn bathroom on the job site. Nothing more, nothing less.

It's not a lifelong goal or some heartfelt notion I feel I need to do to help others. Simply something that should ALREADY be in place.

So why can you not have it written into your work contracts? Will other contractors not hire you over something so cheap?

So Henry Homeowner can't DIY build a carport extension or a deck on the back of his house without a permit already. Now, in addition to having to pay to have certified structural engineering drawings done, an environmental impact study done, a stormwater runoff evaluation, put up silt fence around his "designated construction site", etc., he should certainly have to pay to have a porta john brought out for him and his teenage son as well. No porta pot, no permit.

I'd say that you need to make that part of your private business agreement with the customer. Construction workers crap in the house or porta john, customer's choice. Be a good businessman and discuss all aspects of the job requirements up front.

I mean I guess we could.

Some contractors no. Those are probably the ones with them already on the job. The other guys pinch pennies like you wouldn't believe. Both guys are millionaires. Get that.

Maybe it is just a contract thing.

Ok ok I see wat you did there.

I guess I should've said there would be obvious exceptions? lol

New house construction or MAJOR renovation. Those are the permits I'm talking about.

Yeah but I see now how this could really turn out to be more than I was thinking.