qckrun

I have always wondered what the differences of the books mean?

Are book 1 people the top tier of the union guys, book 2 a step down, book 3 the losers?

How do locals/ the union work who is on what books?

Minuteman

Book 1 is for local members.

Book 2 is for members from other locals.

Book 3 is for non members.

If an EC is hiring and those on book 1 can't man the job, then those on book 2 may apply. Same thing for book 3 if books 1 & 2 can't fill the jobs

__________________
Proud dad of Sgt. Mickey, USMC 0311
"The Few, the Proud, the Infidel."
Battalion Landing team 2/4, 11th MEU

MDShunk

I've never heard of a book 3. Is that for stuff like building the Hoover Dam? I thought non-members were the so-called 'book 5', as in "sign here so that we have a nice list of all the people we'd like to organize".

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Minuteman

I hear that there is even a book 4. Non electricians may sign (like tel/data, LV) but I bet it's a dusty book.

__________________
Proud dad of Sgt. Mickey, USMC 0311
"The Few, the Proud, the Infidel."
Battalion Landing team 2/4, 11th MEU

Celtic

Typically...

Book I are the men from that particular local
Book II are "travelers"..men from other locals
Book III are local apprentices
Book IV are people off the street....not necessarily hobos , but men who are not in the Union.

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leland

Wouldn't book 4 violate some rule?
if not. I would have a slite conniption! If they hired such.

But then again...We are just whores... so whats it matter.

I would like to think...(thats rare these days)....
That only a LOCAL electrician would get the work.
Look around (wink,wink) How many 'Travelers' are working.

Tons in BOSTON. (sure we're not alone) Look around and ask!

Gonna get ugly soon!

__________________
"When one American is not worth the effort to be found, we as Americans have lost" (Rolling Thunder MA 1)

MDShunk

I always thought they were supposed to call in book order? Are you saying that doesn't always happen?

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traveler

Yep...you wanna see some anger....watch book 1 guys sitting at the hall while a book 2 hand is still on a call......some think he should be replaced by a book 1 hand, some don't.

I tend to think, that as a traveler, if a book 1 hand needs the job, it's time to hit the road. First off, you are a GUEST in that local, second....depending on the local, if you don't leave on your own, they will get you laid off or fired, and you won't get another call out of that hall for LIFE.

When you go out on book 2, it is only until the local hands need work. Book 2 hands that stay past a year and "jam" their ticket in that local to "force" that local into making them a book 1 hand.....usually end up despised. and they will make sure to set you up....so if you want to be a book 1 hand somewhere YOU ASK....PERIOD!

Reputation is everything in the IBEW. Make a bad name for yourself, and it is like treading water with a lead weight around your neck....you got it for life.

Ain't fair, but that's life in the IBEW.

~Joe

Bendezium

That doesn't sound much like a "brotherhood" to me.

brian john

Years ago I was working on a job with several travelers, the job was winding down and a few of the dead weights were let go. The travelers picked up their tools and asked for pink slips. Saying they would not work when local men were being let go, even though the foreman wanted to keep the travelers.

The travelers left and so did the dead weights, the company brought a few men from another job to assist.

__________________
I void warranty's

mattsilkwood

That's kinda what i thought.

traveler

If you have a brother, and you wnat to sleep with his wife, it's ok right?

I mean, you're brothers right?

ANY type of brotherhood has limits and boundaries.

There are some things you just don't do.....

A GOOD foreman knows better than to lay off local Bro's and keep the travelers.

Might not make sense to anyone outside....but it's called manners to us. YOU'RE A GUEST in OUR home....and you have to know when you are wearing out your welcome.

the guys mentioned above knew that, and that's why they left....and that's why they were still welcome in that local.

~Joe

Zog

The book numbers mean different things for different locals, but I think book 1 is the same everywhere. Book 4 in Detroit is HV testing specialists and requires a NETA/NICET testing certification or engineering degree. They were union guys, paid thier dues, sat before the board, etc. Hardly "guys off the street".

So qckrun, disregard everything you heard here, call your local, and ask them.

miller_elex

Book 1 is also for local non-union guys who completed the non-union apprenticeship. Here the non-union does mostly residential, but the licensing and schooling makes their cards good for commercial work too. They have every right to sign Book 1 according to the language, and believe me, when I looked at Book 1, a whole bunch of them signed it when the housing market crapped out. Also, they are still working while they are on Book 1, until they take their first call.

I feel it is total B.S. personally, but that is how the local got alot of its best electricians.

Loose Neutral

Our book 1 is local members, Book 2 is for travelers, Book 3 is out of trade. When I was a second year apprentice I got teamed up with this guy for a wire pull and he was asking some pretty simple questions. I'm thinking this is one dumb electrician, come to find out he was a welder working off book 3.

user5941

book 3 is "out of class' that is for linemen ,telecom,ect I had to sign book 3 in local 2 when I was working on a transmission site.

BDB

Back 1952?

__________________
Proud Father of a US Army Solider

Bendezium

I see what you're saying, but that's a real stretch. Sleeping with my brothers wife would be weird and skanky.

However if my brother said "Hey I'm going to be in your neck of the woods for a week/month/year/indefinitely, could you help me get set up with some employment?" I'd say sure, what are you interested in? Do you need a place to crash while you get on your feet?

How would a GOOD foreman differentiate between a "traveler" and someone who has relocated? Is that person still considered an out-of-towner even if he/she and their family made the decision to move to a new local for whatever reason, be it more work, the wife got transfered, better school districts, my kid is sick and I want to be closer to a specialist, or simply I wanted a new change of scenery? And how might that person be treated by the brothers and sisters?

Don't take this the wrong way, these are not rhetorical questions. I'm genuinely interested because I'm hoping to be accepted into the apprenticeship no matter what the answers are. It just seems against union principle to risk losing a brother to an open shop just because he wasn't born and bread in the local, or for any reason on that matter.

Charlie K

The foreman would know who was local and who is travelling. If you and the family move into a new area (state) you are still a traveller until your card is accepted in the area you are working. Transferring your card is not all that easy.

Charlie

user5941

Unionism is about thinking beyond just you and to look at the big picture.