Was just wondering if Testa went out of business? I see CN Wood has some of there old iron for sale.
Hard to imagine. They were such a powerhouse. Great company. I hope they are OK.
seems like i read on another thread of them going under but cant verify anything, if i remember right it was in the high reach vs wrecking ball thread ?? pjj
How could they go under? Such a big powerful company with great management and excellent reputation. Seems very strange.
Yair . . . their website is still up and contact email opens. Cheers.
They are out of business and all of their equipment has been repossessed. They owe the unions big money for unpaid benefits.
Not all of it has been repossessed. There are a hand full of pieces at the old Ford plant in Wixom Mi. That said, they havent moved in a few months. MI Cat has 8 or so excavators from Testa sitting in Grand Rapids Mi, and they are in rough shape.
Terrible. Shame on them. How did you find this out, Jeff?
Looks like they are getting sued by every union they ever had hired into http://dockets.justia.com/search?query=Testa+Corp .
Testa Down So what are all the guys from Testa doing for work now? Have they gone other places/reinvented themselves as a new company? Testa really had quite a run. Did some big awesome projects for sure.
Testa is done , screwed tons of subs outta money ! And the union as well ! Lotta iron was repoed. ****ed a local guy outta 300k for trucking! Has a bad name to there, without a doubt was huge but seems like the bigger they are the harder they fall. 2nd and 3rd gen always seem to **** up ! Big shots
Sad story indeed. Greed did them in, it seems. Who is taking over the big jobs in Boston, now that they are gone?
JDC Demolition (A subsidiary of J Derenzo excavation) and NASDI seem to be ruling the demolition scene out here now.
I read the article first on demolitionforums.com .... The big demo companies around here now j.r. Vinagro out of Rhode Island and JDC demo out of boston I've done a lot of work with both companies, also nasdi
I grew up right next to Jr Vinagros yard. Nice to see the hometowns boys doing so well. Awesome company. Testa on the other hand, Ive heard mixed reviews.
yea, not sure if you know Joey Vinagro or not, but he is doing amazing with the stuff he does. And the new waste processing facility that he just built is unreal.
I dont know joey, but i know people that work there, and when I was a kid I got to go, and now i go sometimes for work.
This is precisely why unions now a days are a complete waste. We are an anti union company and our workers make more money and more benefits than being in the union as well as work harder. Unions are a flat out joke anymore.
Care to explain this statement? Are you saying the unions are a waste because they are suing Testa for money that is owed to them based on a negotiated contract?
OK guys lets not start a union fight over this. Rick
Thank you!
I agree but if I had hair it would be standing up with rage.
Say your getting paid 32$ an hour. 20$ is whats called a taxable wage 12$ is whats called a non taxable wage. Union halls take the twelve dollars an hour and apply that to a benefits package, however they will keep around 5$ of that 12$ for Their fees to the employee. Numbers are give or take a dollar. Dominion, a gas company, is a prime example of the work ethic of every union company I have ever dealt with. We had a job where they were to cut 34 gas lines. It takes maybe two hours to dig cut cap and bury a gas line. These guys show up at 8 am sit in their truck for 1-2 hours walk around for an hour stand for an hour take anywhere from 3-4 hours to do one line and thats all they do for the day. Meanwhile they leave the truck run all day. We had numerous arguments with these people because they were holding us up. Like I said an absolute joke.
I feel for you that you have had such a limited exposure to the work place. Your example is not the norm and your understanding of how benefits are dispersed is totally wrong. Enough said.
I feel for you that your views on unions are misconstrued. My example sums up the majority of all unions in the area. You tell me what a union is good for? On small or big scale. Just look at one of the most if not the most profitable business in this country. Walmart is anti union. Not only are they not in a union they refuse to allow union contractors to bid on any of their work. Companies can offer better benefits than unions and the employees make more money. Its 2014 worker's "rights" aren't getting trampled on anymore so you can stop riding that train as well. We treat our workers better than any union, pay them well, and bid jobs low enough to provide them more hours. They know and understand that in order for them to get more ours we as a company need to make money and they work the hours they say they do. They don't take multiple union breaks in the day. There is only one way to grow as a company and that is to make money. Union halls do nothing but hinder the growth of a business. So I ask you again mr. experience, what are unions good for?
So what you see at the gas company translates into Testas crews, and their production? I watched their crew at the Ford Wixom plant, and ill tell you I didnt see any sitting around. I didnt see any lack of production. I saw the IUOE 324 hands there early every day, their iron running, and after their morning meeting they were promptly working. They surely screwed Testa somewhere in your world. The choice to collectively bargain is each members choice. The company chooses to be union. The benefits? How about a worker you dont have to train? An operator with a skill set that will out produce any other operator you hire off the street? How about specialty training you dont have to pay for as a business owner? How about the ability to add work force, and reduce work force as needed? Hows this one? Call out for a certified hoe operator who can pull stacked boxes on deep trench sewer work. Try and find that in your craigslist, state workforce development center, newspaper add or word of mouth. Let me know how easy that is. The union was not the downfall of Testa. The contract was negotiated between the union and the company. The company has not followed a contract. How would you feel if your company performed work for a client and the client did not pay. Even though you guys negotiated a contract between the parties, they just said no, not going to. Thats akin to what Testa has done here.
I feel I need to remind all the members here that we have a policy at HEF that we desire the website to be union/non-union neutral. Everyone has a right to work wherever and however they wish to work, to work union or non-union, that's their choice and HEF has no part in it. We frown on the forum to be used in a manner to promote unions, and equally, we won't allow union bashing, there's other internet venues to carry on with such conversations. The title of the thread is Testa Corp out of business...let's get off the union thing and get back on track or I'll lock it down here.
This is what I found "The other firm not reporting in 2013 is Testa Corp. Last year, they reported $32.3 million. In the past few months, their equipment has been repossessed and it’s expected they’ll be filing bankruptcy. The Boston Business Journal has listed millions of dollars in tax liens against Steve Testa, the owner of the firm. The news release estimated total industry income as $2.9 billion. That is way off. If the top 20 firms are doing $1,322,000,000, and demolition contractors and excavation contractors have at least a thousand firms doing some kind of demolition work, the figure has to be between $5 billion and $6 billion, if not more. " "All the suits combined state that Testa allegedly owes more than $850,000, but from reading the suits, it could be much more and there is a real possibility of more suits being filed. - See more at: http://demolitionforum.com/demolition-news/exclusive-is-testa-corp-closing-its-doors-for-good/#sthash.LFkd8JO3.dpuf" Sources: http://www.cdworldmag.com/index.php/features/730-state-of-the-demolition-industry-1 http://demolitionforum.com/demoliti...sing-its-doors-for-good/#sthash.LFkd8JO3.dpbs