Seneca Enterprises

[replant]

This thread is devoted to gossip and discussion for employees and stakeholders of Seneca Enterprises.

This company is believed to work predominantly in British Columbia.

[maximus]

I'm an old Seneca boy. Is James Beatty and the fabulous Beatty brothers still around?

[mwainwright]

i planted for these guys in wiliams lake for like a week and a half this summer, basically because my girlfriend was there. they're all nice enough but fuck do their prices just blow. i could have sworn they didn't like me much for just slutting trees in sideways when i was there ( c'mon, if youre gonna pay 15 cents for THAT shit, then i figure youre going to get a 15 cent effort ) but today they sent me a christmas card.

[krahn]

i've planted for seneca lots and am probably spending my season in '07 with them out of faulkland, the prices are pretty good and it's a really nice hotel to stay at. certain camps and contracts aren't that great but they've improved overall, and if you get on with the right crew it can be quite good.

[jedi tree planter]

A supper shady company that looks after the rookies, and turns a blind eye to returning vets. Very unorginized, With planters having to arange there own lodging while working. Not much possitive support or moral, while the formans worry bout blazin up. I would not suggest this company to any one rookie, or baller. Run while you can.

[jules]

I've planted for Seneca for two seasons, and I would probably consider going out for their Falkland contract again. I wouldn't call it "super shady", though admittedly, the company is a bit of an old boys' club. When you're in, you're in, but when you're new to the company, you will get fucked around. It tends to be a little disorganised. There were a bunch of days this season when we wouldn't know what time we would be leaving the motel until late the night before, or when our next day off would be. There were a lot of times when neither the foreman nor the supervisor knew how much we were being paid for a block. Our cheques were late twice, and I had to correct every paycheque I got from them this season (therefore, it's important to keep a record of how much you planted and what price you were told). We also had more fuck-around days and partial days than normal this year.

In my experience, they tend to do a lot of motel or campground shows where you have to take care of your food, rather than bush camps with cooks. Contrary to what jedi tree planter posted, I know for a fact that planters don't have to arrange their own accomodation; in two years with them, I've never even heard of that happening. I find that means I come out of the season with less money saved because I've been paying $20/night for a motel and then spending more money on food, but then again, I also get to eat exactly and only what I want to eat.

However, if you're going to work for a PG company in your first year, Seneca isn't really that bad. Their prices tend to be better than other companies that are willing to hire lots of rookies, and they will also give you wildland fire fighting training, which can be good for making a bit of post-summer-plant coin and gaining EI hours.

[southwestrepresent]

Hey guys,
Does any have experience working with Seneca?
I got a job offer, they have just a spring contract and then some fire work.
Thanks for the advice!

[theoderix]

If the spring contract is Clearwater be prepared for 30cm screefs. Make sure that the price per tree pays accordingly.

Good Luck

[L'Amour]

PM Krahn. He worked with them plenty.

[krahn]

seneca is alright for a first or even second year treeplanter, or possibly longer if you get on with a really good crew and don't mind super long drives. but besides the many issues i had with them during my time there (it's been a while), you just miss out on the whole camp experience. there's definitely still fun to be had living out of hotels but i don't think it's the same.

i wanted to mention though that the fire work is totally dependent on the season. if you live in prince george you have a better shot of getting on... if not, then it's all about how many fires are going and the timing. what i'm saying is don't bank on it.

[MattW]

They seem to be a better PG company.

I did some PG work with them (13 cent trenches, and 13 cent raw..), Clearwater (17-33 cent), and some Kamloops work (15 cent).

The prices were average in PG and in Kamloops, and very good in Clearwater. I managed to make 450$ twice, and 400 a few times. Im a second year planter too.

I got charged 35$ for 6 nights in PG, and got charged 160$ for a failed block back in May, so they dont totally follow the labour standards it seems. They deserve credit for actually adding 7.6% vacation and stat pay on top of tree prices though.

Our crew had to move motels and campground 8 times during 2 month season with a warning time ranging from 1-5 days. It was a huge pain in the ass needless to say. It was their first time doing the BCTS clearwater contract, but moving 8 times is ridiculous.

They have a very good supervisor running things too, who despite not planting before, knows whats going on better than anyone ive seen.

Im not sure if I could recommend them if it werent for the good prices at clearwater. Rumour is it will be a full camp set up though.

[trip]

I worked for them once in 1990 and never again. I would never recommend them to anyone.

[aaron]

[quote="MattW"]

They have a very good supervisor running things too, who despite not planting before, knows whats going on better than anyone ive seen.
[/].

They are quite diligent at paying in full every two weeks with a detailed paystub, which seems rare for planting these days, even in BC where it is the law. They seem to be some of the smartest bidders as well, and seem to show the most restraint when it comes to low bidding, not that they haven't low-bid contracts, but just looking back 5-6 years on BCTS bids, they have left less money on the table than most other medium to large companies.

[kootenaywrx]

Aaron, I concur with your comments on Seneca. Also have seen the great work from the same supervisor on occasion.

It sounds like Seneca has a decent 2014 plant season down south of 70 days. Maby see you down here sometime.

Craig.

[MattW]

Good points Aaron. It probably was too early for me to judge how effective a supervisor is at his/her job.

I wouldn't go back, but it was decent enough for a second year planter and good enough for most rookies if they don't get pushed around too much. I wouldn't trust Mark to set up a camp though. Corners would be cut.

[aaron]

It was the most beautiful tree planting camp i have ever seen, right on adams lake with a large trailer for everyone to eat in,shower in and even mirrors in the bathroom! None of the planters had to set a single thing up or take anything down(other than personal tents), I know Mark paid a fortune renting the unit, it looked brand new. I definitely wouldn't say any corners were cut, the shower incident was just a fuckup, i think it was a pump that the supervisor left somewhere by accident. At least there was a lake for everyone that could handle the cold water.