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254 Posts
Before the economy crashed, and this year on, how common would you say it is to work 2080 hours a year or more?
How common is it to work year round?
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10,730 Posts
It was normal back then, if you were not working, it was because you did not want to.
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314 Posts
80% non-union, 20% union
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254 Posts
FIgures. Sounds like years pay basically averages out to the same for union and non.
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20,221 Posts
When I took calls out of the hall I always worked 2000+ hours.
Now, I work for myself and cringe at the idea of working 1000 hours. I'm trying to get it to about 500 hours.:thumbup:
Now, I work for myself and cringe at the idea of working 1000 hours. I'm trying to get it to about 500 hours.:thumbup:
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4,151 Posts
44 years missed a day,
as an owner that may seem to skew the results but all my employees get 40+ and have for the 30 years I have been in business.
In the DC area hazarding a guess I'd say 90% get 40 and more year after year with a few bad years mixed in
as an owner that may seem to skew the results but all my employees get 40+ and have for the 30 years I have been in business.
In the DC area hazarding a guess I'd say 90% get 40 and more year after year with a few bad years mixed in
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385 Posts
The more stuff you know how to do, the more you will be working. I have worked 2000+ hours for the last few years continuously with no let-up in sight.
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1,698 Posts
I got in late 1988 I really only had one bad year. That was '91, only worked six months. That was also the year that I worked for a different contractor. I took a two week short call with them and then got picked up again by the contractor that I was first sent to.
The recession leaned the company, and had me wondering if I was next. I made it through and did not miss any time. Things have picked up. They are back to pre-recession levels.
I don't get any overtime, they just hire more or put on another shift. So with the seven unpaid holidays and taking some long weekends, it puts me at around 2000 hours.
I never got rotated when I was an apprentice. I came in as B guy and did my five years. Then when I changed over and was in classes with the A apprentices, I was still a B guy, and they don't get rotated. I was technically "taking a course that would eventually lead to a Change of classification". Some would say my new classification is Re-tread, and if I was not on the Mobil version of this site I could throw in the laughing emoticon.
As a Residential Re-tread I am in good company. At least half the local has come in this way. LU 400.
The recession leaned the company, and had me wondering if I was next. I made it through and did not miss any time. Things have picked up. They are back to pre-recession levels.
I don't get any overtime, they just hire more or put on another shift. So with the seven unpaid holidays and taking some long weekends, it puts me at around 2000 hours.
I never got rotated when I was an apprentice. I came in as B guy and did my five years. Then when I changed over and was in classes with the A apprentices, I was still a B guy, and they don't get rotated. I was technically "taking a course that would eventually lead to a Change of classification". Some would say my new classification is Re-tread, and if I was not on the Mobil version of this site I could throw in the laughing emoticon.
As a Residential Re-tread I am in good company. At least half the local has come in this way. LU 400.
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3,413 Posts
I had a chance to work for the feds at Naval Air Station in the seventies.Closed the station down and everybody got a big fat golden handshake/retraining.
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942 Posts
I've been in the union for 2 years and I have had 5 weeks of downtime.
SHould add this is all with the same contractor.
SHould add this is all with the same contractor.
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1,047 Posts
The company I work for has been in business for 40 years. We're a tier 1 automotive supplier; when GM and Chrysler went bankrupt we had the first ever layoff in the history of the company. I've been with the company for 17 years, and I've worked 2000+ hrs/yr every year.
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I worked for 15 years in the union and never missed more than 2 weeks. It doesn't matter how slow things are at the hall, if you are hooked up with a contractor you will work full time.
Even during really rough times when my local had 600-700 men out of work and the wait was 2 years, there was still the other 3,000 men who were working.
If you're a good worker the company will want to take you with them to the next job instead of taking their chances with someone new from the hall. This goes against what some union members think the union is about, but ultimately you joined the union for yourself.
Even during really rough times when my local had 600-700 men out of work and the wait was 2 years, there was still the other 3,000 men who were working.
If you're a good worker the company will want to take you with them to the next job instead of taking their chances with someone new from the hall. This goes against what some union members think the union is about, but ultimately you joined the union for yourself.
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4,151 Posts
here are men that will always be first to the bench, union lawyers, lazy bums and trouble makers. then there are guys that only want short calls with OT.
Be knowledgable and a good worker can minimize the down time.
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5,250 Posts
C'mon Hax.. there are many who have us believe that if you work all year round with a signatory shop then you're a rat or scum of some sort. Simply because we are all a brotherhood and we should only work long enough to get unemployment insurance (or whatever its called in the US) then step aside and let another brother/sister have their turn.:laughing:
What a wonderful little fairy tale world that is. I can imagine one of my crew stepping aside to let the next guy on the list come to work. I would close the doors and shut it down......I would be driven to the brink of insanity by the lazy slobs who are next on the list and just when that guy got his time in.....the next one would probably be worse.:no:
Simply because we are all a brotherhood and we should only work long enough to get unemployment insurance (or whatever its called in the US) then step aside and let another brother/sister have their turn.:laughing:What a wonderful little fairy tale world that is. I can imagine one of my crew stepping aside to let the next guy on the list come to work. I would close the doors and shut it down......I would be driven to the brink of insanity by the lazy slobs who are next on the list and just when that guy got his time in.....the next one would probably be worse.:no:
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4,151 Posts
We have some out of town work and we have gotten the some excellent hard working IBEW members. Always a worry, always a crap shoot but I guess we have been lucky.
NYC we had a few wouldn't work, wouldn't help, just got in the way and wanted to go home early, so I paid them to get out of our way. They were happy, I got the job done and went home with a real good impression of those mothers, I mean brothers.
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2,962 Posts
Not to start an argument but it is a little of both. I am pretty settled in my life and if one of my younger brothers needed the work more, I would step aside, as folks did for me in the past when I truly needed the work.
Yes you work for yourself first, but you don't work for yourself exclusively. The benefits of working with a collective go beyond simple dollars.
I understand that is a difficult concept to wrap your head around as a non union worker however the better the whole of the group is doing, the better I as an individual will be doing.
Yes, there are crappy electricians out there, and nepotism and folks who will stab you in the back to keep their jobs - that is common in both union and non union shops. All you can do is work as well as you can and treat folks fairly.
Yes you work for yourself first, but you don't work for yourself exclusively. The benefits of working with a collective go beyond simple dollars.
I understand that is a difficult concept to wrap your head around as a non union worker however the better the whole of the group is doing, the better I as an individual will be doing.
Yes, there are crappy electricians out there, and nepotism and folks who will stab you in the back to keep their jobs - that is common in both union and non union shops. All you can do is work as well as you can and treat folks fairly.
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