mill operator

diesel technician

ASARCO

People are not empowered at ASARCO and morale is very low.  Their pay scale is significantly lower than their competitors (both for hourly and salaried roles.)  In addition, most other mining companies pay bonuses, ASARCO does not.  They have had salary freezes for the past 5 plus years, and most people are at their wits end there, It is no wonder no one is motivated to do anything.  There are no reward or recognition for doing well, and if you do not do well there are no consequences either.  Very few people (if anyone) is motivated to do anything.  Technology is outdated and internet goes down frequently. They contract out many positions (and key positions) so they don't have to pay benefits.  

On the positive side, people are very nice and there is little to no stress.  There is somewhat of a family feel there and I think that comes from people supporting one another in what otherwise would be an unbearable circumstance.  Information is kept secret, and it seems like even management is not informed about what is going on.  No one wants to make any changes to improve things, and even if they did want to make improvements most peoples hands are tied as decisions are made out of Mexico.  I would not recommend this company to anyone looking to advance in their career or earn a decent living.

This company was recently bought out by Grupo Mexico when I worked here long ago, so the Retirement Pension was terminated, and the 401(k) was decent. I learned much on the job, and there wasn't much training relevant to the engineering tasks. I remember all the safety courses, so this was a plus. There were numerous times involving the communication of opinions between Union and ASARCO corporate management while on the job, and most of the frustrations from both parties were taken out on the salary staff trying to keep the place running on limited quarterly budgets, and demanding quarterly production quotas. There were some good people at the ASARCO company that were wholly dedicated to making the facility better, and I enjoyed my time learning good work ethics from them. Some of the difficult workers focused only on the negatives, and sometimes impeded morale around the mine, which can be contagious at times. Overall, the ASARCO company is a good place for an engineer to obtain well rounded exposure as to how companies work and interact with hourly/union, but some departments would need to be restructured/talent recruited from the ground up to retain 'career leaders' for this company. 

Ever sense the union left we all got raises but as well we’re now expected to do much more work than what we signed up for. Schedules changed on us in a weeks time. Job descriptions changed without notice. Management is poor, moral is none. Mechanics got the worse Delt card out of the company. Supervisors didn’t even get a raise and the employees now make more than the supervisors. When spoke to the general supervisor about the changes and how us mechanics did not agree to the changes. Or how we did not sign up for that kind of work schedule. We got told that we have options that we don’t need to stay there. We all took that as a big F**k you and we can leave if we don’t like it. Good luck Asarco change is coming and is going to change fast. Shovel repair is about to loose 80% of their good experienced mechanics, supervisors, and welders. Unless some type of change is made 

You will work with grown up children. They will stab you in the back, want you to join their stupid lame union, and pay for no representation at all. Management was OK, environmental issues need addressed by MSHA badly, you can work a ton of OT but won’t see your family. Decent benefits, but other mines have better benefits. Some of the dead weight there needs to be cut fast and they need to raise the wages soon. They need to hold the slackers accountable for their actions, tighten up on the people there keeping the company from giving raises. The house keeping is horrible, everywhere, no one cleans anything. Housekeeping in other mines is superb and way nice then RAY mine. Dusty conditions all the time, roads and vehicles are horrible, equipment is old and outdated badly. Go to resolution, FMI, or any other mine in the country before you work here. Hope this helps.

Being at the mine during the summer gets very hot because most of the work there is done outside. It is hard labor but it is never boring or unpleasant. Most of the buildings are open and there is not a lot of closed air conditioning. The conditions there are very dangerous but the company is very keen on safety and train people very well in a nice environment. Co-workers are nice and welcoming. They were always willing to help me if I didn't know certain things about my job and would always help me to get better. They are also very polite. The hardest part of the job was the heat but my supervisor and co-workers always made sure I had water on hand if I needed to take a break it was never a problem. The most enjoyable part is being able to be around machines and experiencing the work of a lab technician. It was all very interesting and fascinating.

Enjoyed the schedule and love the work that I was doing within the company. I liked the environment and learned a lot about the mining industry, the safety and the expectations. 

I wasn't very satisfied with the management structure of this company and the leadership with each individual in the structure.
My co-workers were a pleasure to be with and each had their own skills and strengths and happy to help answer questions when posed.

The hardest part of the job was maintaining absolute safety at ALL TIMES while still being highly productive.

The Most enjoyable part of my job was learning to safely and properly use each piece of equipment I used.

the pay was very good and the work i did was enjoyable, but when it came to dealing with issues or anything higher level management was worthless, they were constantly penny pinching on things that should NOT be skimped out on, such as systems that maintained the safety of others. Whenever there was interpersonal issues management did nothing about it and whenever you messed up you were given zero warnings and just kicked off property for things you didn't even know, even for small infractions. Many of the managers were not qualified for their positions and were just promoted from the inside without actually knowing how to do the job. If you are qualified you will flourish here and get good pay without having to do much effort at all. 

This place is a black hole. If you’re reading this just go to Freeport. Majority of people here are leaving because the company doesn’t care for its employees. Compensation doesn’t meet the needs when everything is expensive. There’s no incentive to stay here. The more work you do the more they ask and and expect of you without giving in return. Paychecks are often incorrect. Bonuses are limited. Meanwhile all managers are being compensated very well and are leaving at decent times all while the workers are given more loads and responsibilities each day. Equipment used each day is faulty and often breaks down. The place says it pushes for safety first… no it’s production. Let all the managers run a shift in each department and they’ll realize what it’s like but they’ll never do that..

Union individuals cry and wine about new hires taking their job away n don't like training new employees. Union individuals are the most lazy workers ever and want new hires to do all the jobs that suck. Management caters to them and they seem scared of them so if any issues arise they don't handle it. Threats- harassment - and you losing your job if u don't do it even though it's unsafe. This is also my first job that safety is out the window and you can easy get hurt ion the job. HR too is too worried bout who to suck up too and don't do nothing if a issue arises. The only good thing is the benefits. Pay sucks and the moral sucks. Very bad experience too not don't recommend working there unless you like unsafe politics..

I would like to say this is one of,  if not the worst hr departments in this industry,  but I've run into the same treatment from Capstone and Freeport,  just to name a couple. Won't answer phone calls,  won't return phone messages,  just horrible communication all around. Like I said,  it's not just here though,  it seems as though it's standard operating procedure for anyone with a human resources degree to treat job seekers this way.  Must keep away the rif-raf.... and then they wonder why they can't find good employees. He's a tip, stop re hiring the same ones you fired for substance abuse and hire some new blood. Be willing to train them into how you want them to work. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Mill operator 5 salaries reported	$25.35 per hour
Diesel technician 1 salary reported	$33.00 per hour

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