Are you in a Union?
- Thread starter mattmann
- Start date
O.K. I feel fairly safe posting this. The Utility I work for is under the IBEW 387. I am not a union kind of a guy which works out for me. AZ is a right to work state. I never signed up. I believe out of the 60 or so vegetation guys only 2 of us are non-union. Most have no idea that not joining is even an option. I admit the union has helped raise our wages. ($26.50 or so topped out.) but I like the idea of taking my problems straight to the boss and getting fired if I do something stupid. It keeps me motivated. I don't talk or preach about this at work. The tree guys have no problems with it as far as I know. I do get cornered every month by the steward before the meetings. The line side hates it.
Im non union but when I worker for asplundh I wanrted to be.We worked on there property and we did what they told us why should we not have the same bennys. I nolonger do line work and I do not think union is right for GTW
- Location
- That place north of America
Power Workers Union Local 1000.
http://www.pwu.ca/index.php
I believe that anyone working for a utility should be union for a lot of reasons. Typically the safety programs are there and the rights of the worker are more evident. I work directly for the company and we see what our non-union contractors have to deal with. The workers get screwed at every turn and their bosses make the big bucks. Not saying that happens everywhere but it does happen.
Also, look at the safety records for line trades. I've heard of too many horror stories of newbies getting fried because their company cuts corners. Its not right.
Unions are right for this industry because one wrong move will kill and it should be more about worker safety than worker production.
http://www.pwu.ca/index.php
I believe that anyone working for a utility should be union for a lot of reasons. Typically the safety programs are there and the rights of the worker are more evident. I work directly for the company and we see what our non-union contractors have to deal with. The workers get screwed at every turn and their bosses make the big bucks. Not saying that happens everywhere but it does happen.
Also, look at the safety records for line trades. I've heard of too many horror stories of newbies getting fried because their company cuts corners. Its not right.
Unions are right for this industry because one wrong move will kill and it should be more about worker safety than worker production.
i dont agree. it is about production. its a buisness. the buisness of removing vegetation from around the power lines. its not the buisness of using rules to get around the work. dont get me wrong, a correctly functioning union is very benefitial to a force of workers. however, sometimes unions breed lazy useless friggin idiots who feel that they are entitled [bad word] just because they are part of it. it makes the hard working intellegent, ambitious workers not give a [bad word] because....why bust your [bad word] and do a good job and be paid the same as the idiot who cant trimm thier nose hairs aor fingernails let alone a tree.
they have to operate correcty and more than not they dont. my experience is that they clowns that get into positions within forget who they are working for. who does the actual work that creates a "need" for thier spot. they become complaicent in their jobs. instead of going after the companies for their neglect theyd rather spend their time displaying their importance by generating numbers through apprentices. what a crock of [bad word]. they call it trianing. again...bullshit. this starts the breeding of union thinking workers. hopefully they are also traing them to be productive, ambitious, go getters. if not the rest of us are going to have to pick up the slack and carry the [bad word]. thats not only dangerous, it frustrating, and is the perfect coctail for animosity and resent on the jobsite.
they have to operate correcty and more than not they dont. my experience is that they clowns that get into positions within forget who they are working for. who does the actual work that creates a "need" for thier spot. they become complaicent in their jobs. instead of going after the companies for their neglect theyd rather spend their time displaying their importance by generating numbers through apprentices. what a crock of [bad word]. they call it trianing. again...bullshit. this starts the breeding of union thinking workers. hopefully they are also traing them to be productive, ambitious, go getters. if not the rest of us are going to have to pick up the slack and carry the [bad word]. thats not only dangerous, it frustrating, and is the perfect coctail for animosity and resent on the jobsite.
From the looks of it, things are kind of split on the "to be or not to be" unionized topic. I find it interesting because I, initially, felt the same way about unions as those opposed - that union guys (not all but some) can ***k the dog, get paid the same as those that produce and are protected by the union. Those feelings led me to begin my tree work career with a small-time non-unionized employer. I enjoyed the pressure to produce and the high energy atmosphere. I like the rewards associated with high production. I like to work hard.
After two years of tough work on the ground with my non-unionized employer I got a utility arborist apprenticeship (in BC you've got to complete a two year course before BC Hydro will let you work near their lines). A crew change (the CUA I had been training/learning under left the company) meant I had to work with the owner of the company (who is also a CUA). I went from getting praise and positive encouragement to getting ragged on constantly. I wasn't doing anything wrong and my production was above average for a guy with my experience (my other co-workers were impressed) but my boss just had to blow a gasket once a day on someone - and most of the time it was me (though not always). I found out the hard way that in a non-unionized company you're basically at the mercy of your employer. He can basically say/do anything he wants because there is nobody to complain to. I know people say you can lodge a complaint with the labour relations board or some governing body of some kind, but in real life this would mean one of two things: 1. You get fired 2. You don't get fired but life is made a living hell until you are basically forced to quit.
Long story short, I quit after getting screamed at (again) for something that I didn't do (again). I got a job with the first CUA I worked with who started his own company. I am currently stuck in another predicament - he constantly shows up late to work. I mean an hour and a half is not uncommon. He didn't even show up to work today, I left after waiting at the truck for 3 hours. We also quit early all the time. He also refuses to pay me a union-equivalent wage (I get $4/hr less than with a union) and I'm not getting any chances to accumilate the few remaining hours I need to finish my apprenticeship and get my ticket.
The bottom line is that working for a non-unionized company can be just as hard as working for a union. I am currently in process of changing jobs (again), but this time I'm giving the union-thing a try. I've seen the worst of the non-union side of utility work, it can only get better from here....
After two years of tough work on the ground with my non-unionized employer I got a utility arborist apprenticeship (in BC you've got to complete a two year course before BC Hydro will let you work near their lines). A crew change (the CUA I had been training/learning under left the company) meant I had to work with the owner of the company (who is also a CUA). I went from getting praise and positive encouragement to getting ragged on constantly. I wasn't doing anything wrong and my production was above average for a guy with my experience (my other co-workers were impressed) but my boss just had to blow a gasket once a day on someone - and most of the time it was me (though not always). I found out the hard way that in a non-unionized company you're basically at the mercy of your employer. He can basically say/do anything he wants because there is nobody to complain to. I know people say you can lodge a complaint with the labour relations board or some governing body of some kind, but in real life this would mean one of two things: 1. You get fired 2. You don't get fired but life is made a living hell until you are basically forced to quit.
Long story short, I quit after getting screamed at (again) for something that I didn't do (again). I got a job with the first CUA I worked with who started his own company. I am currently stuck in another predicament - he constantly shows up late to work. I mean an hour and a half is not uncommon. He didn't even show up to work today, I left after waiting at the truck for 3 hours. We also quit early all the time. He also refuses to pay me a union-equivalent wage (I get $4/hr less than with a union) and I'm not getting any chances to accumilate the few remaining hours I need to finish my apprenticeship and get my ticket.
The bottom line is that working for a non-unionized company can be just as hard as working for a union. I am currently in process of changing jobs (again), but this time I'm giving the union-thing a try. I've seen the worst of the non-union side of utility work, it can only get better from here....
they can be excellent tools as long as THE GUYS doing the work get involved and force the jokers representing them to to actually represent the best interest of the workers. sometimes {often} the local unions are somewhat in bed with the contractors. this leads to the unions not enforcing rules correctly or overlooking many things which eventually lead to bigger things and.......you get the idea. unions are as crooked as your government. if the men dont watch them carefully they can hurt them in the grand scheme of things.
- Location
- Nationwide
I was in IBEW Local 125 and that's where I did my two-year apprenticeship and received my Journeyman rating.
I had worked several years in non-union jobs; as a landscape construction worker, as a tree climber and groundsman, and as a commercial carpenter. I had a wife, child, and a house payment. I had heard all the rhetoric, good and bad, about unions. Stripped of emotion, attitude, or politics, the Union apprenticeship offered me the most value as a worker.
I started at $12/hr (take-home) with medical, dental, vision benefits, and started recieving a pension. This benefits package included my wife and child at no additional cost. Two years later I was at $22.50/hr with the same benefits package.
I could go point by point and write out all the pros and cons and weigh the merits of each, but in the end, as a Blue-Collar Worker, the Union was the best thing that could have happened to me. My Journeyman rating is a lifetime credential and gives me marketability above and beyond the Certified Arborist.
I participated fully in the Union when I was a Brother, I attended all the meetings I could, and knew and understood the rules and expectations for Members and Contractors. I got along well with the other Union Brothers and was a valuable employee to the contractors that I worked for.
I had worked several years in non-union jobs; as a landscape construction worker, as a tree climber and groundsman, and as a commercial carpenter. I had a wife, child, and a house payment. I had heard all the rhetoric, good and bad, about unions. Stripped of emotion, attitude, or politics, the Union apprenticeship offered me the most value as a worker.
I started at $12/hr (take-home) with medical, dental, vision benefits, and started recieving a pension. This benefits package included my wife and child at no additional cost. Two years later I was at $22.50/hr with the same benefits package.
I could go point by point and write out all the pros and cons and weigh the merits of each, but in the end, as a Blue-Collar Worker, the Union was the best thing that could have happened to me. My Journeyman rating is a lifetime credential and gives me marketability above and beyond the Certified Arborist.
I participated fully in the Union when I was a Brother, I attended all the meetings I could, and knew and understood the rules and expectations for Members and Contractors. I got along well with the other Union Brothers and was a valuable employee to the contractors that I worked for.
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