What Can The Industry Do To Help Independent Instructors?

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

FTR ... I have dive buddies who are Captain Pat's customers and they recommend him very highly. My criticism is directed generally towards unfair labor practices that have become the "industry norm" and not against Panama City Diving.

 

[cerich]

Sorry, I see the $1,200 canister light on your website, nothing else. Look forward to seeing more

I said in stock, not on the web site. They will all be there when in stock and we start actively selling. let me be sorry, not you!

 

[The Chairman]

My criticism is directed generally towards unfair labor practices that have become the "industry norm

How is it really unfair? It's what the market allows. It's not like the LDSes are making money hand over fist and driving around in new Bentleys. There's not a lot of fat on the bone when the going rate for a two tank dive trip is @ $90.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

How is it really unfair? It's what the market allows. It's not like the LDSes are making money hand over fist and driving around in new Bentleys. There's not a lot of fat on the bone when the going rate for a two tank dive trip is @ $90.

I totally understand that perspective but it is incomplete. Free market is always in a state of constant evolution and what I see next is freelance instructors teaming up with newly emerging brands to create a guerilla industry. This guerilla industry will deliver the same products both in terms of high quality diving gear as well as high quality scuba instruction but it will not have the same overheads as the LDS or major equipment brands. This change is already happening and I find it ironic that when it cames to enjoying the fruits of free labor LDS was quick to point out that free-market allows it. When the same free-market goes about destroying LDS with internet sales and free lance basement instructors then they cry fowl.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I totally understand that perspective but it is incomplete. Free market is always in a state of constant evolution and what I see next is freelance instructors teaming up with newly emerging brands to create a guerilla industry. This guerilla industry will deliver the same products both in terms of high quality diving gear as well as high quality scuba instruction but it will not have the same overheads as the LDS or major equipment brands. This change is already happening and I find it ironic that when it cames to enjoying the fruits of free labor LDS was quick to point out that free-market allows it. When the same free-market goes about destroying LDS with internet sales and free lance basement instructors then they cry fowl.

I'd be crying too if I had chickens running around in my basement ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[The Chairman]

I find it ironic that when it cames to enjoying the fruits of free labor LDS

I don't see the irony here, just myopia. Independents and brick and mortars both 'enjoy' these free fruits. However, most independents don't invest in a compressor or other necessities and must rely on the good graces of a brick and mortar retailer. Those retailers must now invent new avenues of revenue or hike up the prices of those necessities in order to keep the lights on and the doors open. You call it a 'crime' and I'm simply showing your own hypocrisy in doing so.

When it comes to guerrilla marketing, I'm arguably the 800 pound gorilla. Many professionals hate what I've done because I level the playing field. It's not just me, but the entire internet. Sure, you can pay to advertise here, and I think it's great and effective when you do. But many, many instructors use my forum to promote their classes without compensating me a dime. That's not only OK, but something I encourage. It's not that I don't need the money: I do. But I see a completely different paradigm on the interwebs and I'm not afraid to work outside of my comfort zone. It's been the way of the web since the turn of the century. The only way I can afford to stay open is because of the cadre of volunteer moderators who keep the place running. I wish I could pay them SOMETHING, but my salary is never a sure thing. In actuality, they don't work for me: they work for the community. It's the same mentality that drives today's unpaid dive masters. They want to see their sport grow, not die and hopefully get a few dives in along the way. Each one justifies the benefits they get, real and esoteric against the time and sacrifices they make. We all benefit from their sweat and I would love for us to arrive at a solution that would allow us to move to a pay for performance environment. Yes, even here on SB. But calling the brick and mortar stores criminals because they are stuck with this system does nothing to rectify the problem, only exacerbates it. Finger pointing rarely resolves any issues.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I was using the word "crime" in a metaphorical sense but outside the diving industry, a year of labor without minimum wage could be exactly that. I have seen DMs (and instructors) fill tanks, sweep the floor, haul gear and also repair boat engines. Lets look at it this way:

Q. Why are you a prostitute?

A. Because I love to have sex.

Q. Who gets all the money that comes in?

A. My pimp of course.

Q. And what about you?

A. I do it for free because it is fun.

The unfairness of the above situation would be magnified if the prostitute had paid the pimp a few thousand dollars in course fee and certifications. Plus if she was also performing other forms of labor which were not directly related to her "job" and less pleasurable such as floor sweeping and toilet cleaning then you would say WTH. In diving industry however, the moment you start pointing out the absurdity of this same "industry norm" a certain segment of the industry gets very uncomfortable. That segment invokes "free-market" argument where it suits them but rejects free market argument where it benefits the prostitute (Ahem Dive professional.)

I totally agree with you though that I am guilty of visiting this bordello over and over again.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Nobody's forcing anybody to work for free. If you do it, it's because you choose to ... and the choice is purely yours to make. And not all DMs are uncompensated. Even those who are generally are offered deals on gear, free fills, boat trips, etc. in exchange for the services they provide.

Money's not the only compensation when working in a recreational industry like scuba diving. I "retired" from scuba instruction at the end of 2015. Since then I've taken on a stronger role as mentor ... in many ways doing for free what I used to charge money for. Why? Well, first off, I don't need the money and second off, because I choose to. I get satisfaction out of helping new divers become better divers ... and that's compensation enough. If they need a class, I'll refer them to an instructor to take one. But for the most part we just go diving, and they learn by watching and talking about it after the dive. We both have fun ... which is why we dive to begin with. You might consider it free labor on my part ... but I don't see it that way. I suspect the same logic applies with a lot of these DM's you're complaining about ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[kelemvor]

I'm not a dive professional, but hasn't the whole "slave labor" thing already been solved by federal minimum wage? I would think an unpaid employee could simply file a complaint with the U.S. department of labor... How to File a Complaint - We Can Help - Wage and Hour Division (WHD) - U.S. Department of Labor unless they're volunteering for a nonprofit diveshop or agency...

Before someone responds with the "independent contractor" argument. Here's how the government sees that: http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs13.pdf

 

[boulderjohn]

I'm not a dive professional, but hasn't the whole "slave labor" thing already been solved by federal minimum wage? I would think an unpaid employee could simply file a complaint with the U.S. department of labor... How to File a Complaint - We Can Help - Wage and Hour Division (WHD) - U.S. Department of Labor unless they're volunteering for a nonprofit diveshop or agency...

Before someone responds with the "independent contractor" argument. Here's how the government sees that: http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs13.pdf

All correct. I have been through these issues myself many times over the entirety of the time I have been instructing.

Instructors are paid a number of ways by the shops for which they work. Some do indeed make minimum wage regularly. Others do not. A very common system is to pay the instructor a certain amount for each completed certification. The shop with which I used to work had just such a system for most of its courses--$35 per completed certification. If you had a weekend class of 8 students, you made $280, which was above minimum wage. If only two students were signed up for that class, though, you got $70--far below minimum wage. It was boom or bust, and you hoped it would even out over time.

The worst example I ever saw was one for which I assisted while still a DM. (My assistance in this class was completely unpaid.) It was a one student Rescue Diver class, back when that class had twelve short dives of increasing difficulty. The instructor worked through the sequence, knowing he was only going to get $35 at the end. After the 11th dive, a thunderstorm arrived, and we had to cancel the 12th dive. The instructor could not work the next day, so another instructor did the 12th dive with the student, and that second instructor got the $35 for certifying the student. Boom for instructor #2'; bust for instructor #1. Tough break, said the original instructor, but that's the system.

Eventually that shop realized how wrong that system was and totally changed to one that consistently paid for the amount of time the instructor put in for instructing--no more boom and bust. In our area, that system is a rarity.

So what can you do as an instructor? You can report the shop, knowing that there will be some minor consequence for the shop, and knowing that you will never work again. As I said in a thread in the Instructor to Instructor forum, I was told by a shop manager not long ago that "instructors are a dime a dozen." Every other week someone is coming to the shop looking for employment. If you don't like the way things are, someone will be teaching in your spot very, very soon.