Majack16

Why would someone work Non Union over Union?

mcclary's electrical

So they can work, not sit.

Shockdoc

So they can be well rounded in every aspect of this trade.

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All these liberal laws has turned me into a right wingnut..

BBQ

There is no way I can answer why I choose to work non-union without starting crap because someone will be offended.

At it's most basic it is this, the local union guys always treated me like chit anytime I had any dealing with them. I decided I did not want to join a bunch of assholes.

Be pissed about my answer if you want, but you did ask and that has been my experience.

Chris Kennedy

You didn't have to join them, hell you have the credentials to be their leader.

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Bulldozers and Dirt

B4T

The Union schooling is the best thing that can happen to any electrician starting out in the trade.. I have heard that from a bunch of people..

But once the schooling is up you will work only (6) months out of the year if you are lucky..

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There comes a time when people who volunteer their service need to step back and see if it is better for them to retire. A red flag is when they become "cranky" and lose all sense of reality by making decisions that really don't make any sense..

HARRY304E

Back when i tryed to join i was lucky i left the Union hall alive.

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ES2 Flat Rate , The best $99 I've ever spent ..

nitro71

Put me in the BBQ camp. I haven't had overly good experiences working union. Pay is much better though. Right now you work for whomever will hire you. Union or otherwise.

Dennis Alwon

It's a good thing Bob likes you.

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Jmohl

Non union all the way.... I don't have to sit and wait on my fat butt for work to call me, If I hate the job, I leave, simple as that.. no penalties, no waiting on the bench, no b.s. That and the way they treated my pops, they can hang one...

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Don't release the magic smoke!

Rick567

I guess I am biased, I have been working union for the past 18 years with very good results. I like it because of the benefits the health insurance and pension is great. I've swapped contractors over the years and my benefits stays the same. I've have also worked pretty steady over the years but I usually do not turn down work when it comes my way. The other thing you have to look at is, are you happy where you are at, there is bad contractors in each sector and whether or not you are gonna have enough to retire on when you get old and all wrinkled.
Btw not all union guys are assholes. I try to treat everyone equally on my jobs.

henderson14

DIdnt get into the union because they didnt' have a family member to get them in.

Rick567

Yes I've heard this was the case maybe still is in some locals but nowadays they want the dues so they will take any one in. If you have the skills to think and get the job done then I think you would have a very good career in the union. I didn't have any family in the union.

tweak

Well, let me start this off by letting you know that I am a union apprentice, local 494 here in Milwaukee.
I believe that working a non-union job lets one be more in control of his/her career. I can not speak about every local, but here it seems that regardless of your skills, you are lumped into a particular aspect of the trade - for better or for worse.
I will be honest - I suck at running conduit. I know this. However, the contractor I am with for the past few jobs has had me do nothing BUT run conduit. I'm not bellyaching, mind you, but if it was up to me, I would try and get into a more controls/automation side of the career because that is what my background is in. Calls for that through our hall, even in the good times, were few and far between. You had to know somebody who knows somebody kind of thing. Even in HVAC controls where at the beginning of my career I had a lot of exposure in.
If I was working non-union, I could go from shop to shop and sell those skills to an employer. I agree, the benefits may not be the same and pay may or may not be the same, but the employee has more of a free hand where he or she works and what type of work they may do.
That being said, I have one more year before turning out, and after that I plan on exercising my GI Bill to obtain an associate's degree in controls and automation. Hopefully I can get to a shop that will be able to put those skills to use. If not, I am going to have to decide which direction I want my career to take - union or non-union.

Just my two cents.

brian john

In my case it took me 8 years to get in. Then spent several years on big jobs and putting up with crap by the men that had completed a full apprenticeship and thought less of those that got in the back door.

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Brian John
Leesburg, VA

Frank Mc

Brian what do you mean by those that got in the back door...???

Thanks
Frank

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Only our rivers run free

Rick567

Getting in by the back door means that a person was organized in, meaning they already had the schooling and the experience to not to have to go through the apprenticeship or already have a journeymen's license.

Frank Mc

Thanks

So the guys getting in through the back door have done an apprenticeship with a non union employer and have difficulty joining the union..is that correct...???

Frank

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Only our rivers run free

tweak

Yes. Those who "go through the backdoor" are often looked down upon by those who have gone through a union apprenticeship. That being said, I've met top notch guys who were/are non-union just as I have met guys who are top notch union. I don't believe it matters HOW you got your training, I mean we all picked this trade in order to better ourselves and our families. To me, in the end, it doesn't matter how/when/where you picked up the trade, it matters to me that you are in the trade and that's all that matters.

gold

Not an argument?

Yeah right.

Troll.

I'm not union because I'm better then you, and your a thief for stealing taxpayers money.

Union guys are all lazy.