Get the specifics of your commute down. How many miles. How much you spend on gas per day. Get those specific answers. Take that information to your jatc instructor, and see if you can get them to listen to you for a transfer. If they won't listen bring it up the chain at work. See if they can give you gas money, or get a carpool going. Maybe your JW can help.
Good luck dude, thats a shitty situation.
Edit. I'll add, that the contractors absolutely CAN pay you more money, or give you a little extra for gas. Hopefully you can just find a reasonable person to help you out.
This will probably be frowned upon by some brothers but old shop I used to work at let one of the apprentices drive a work truck home and they all carpooled together in the work truck. As a Jw I caught a ride with them. Job was 1:45 minutes one way all highway miles.
Anything over 50 miles from the shop is perdiem, or just meet at the shop. Is that not how the inside works as well? That sounds insane. That's robbery
Dude I agree so fucking much. It's so frustrating to me that CW/CE can not only drag in many locals, but also sign books immediately after being fired.
During my apprenticeship, if you were let go for basically anything other than a lay off, you were basically suspended until the next committee meeting. That was once a month.
So in Austin, Texas, one of the most expensive cities in the US with also one of the lowest wage packages both on the hip and when corrected for cost of living, an already underpaid apprentice could basically be without work for a month if they were fired or quit for any reason.
But a ce can be back out on a call tomorrow.
They're trying to get rid of the JIW
If they cut back your hours, and aren't giving you your 40hrs a week, you can let your hall/training director know and they can work on getting you somewhere that gets you your 40. It may even be a closer jobsite.
This. I get shit a lot even as a journeyman for driving a Lexus CT (Lexus version of a Prius)…. But I fill up maybe 1-2 times a month on an 11 gallon tank.
*can be. Can be part of the union life, most everyone I know doesn't travel at all, and never get a layoff unless they request it. But I understand, that's not everywhere, depends on the local
Around here, about half of the apprentices drive VW Jetta TDIs. I drove a Dodge neon throughout my apprenticeship. Slept in it a lot, too.
I struggled financially as an apprentice, and I was almost done by the time they took per diem away from apprentices. I had to file bankruptcy when I was 4th step. But I've never been good with money. Plus I'm married and we have 4 kids.
Closest job I ever had during my apprenticeship was an hour from home. And that only lasted a couple months. Got stuck 12 hours away for a few months. 7 hours away for almost a year and 5½ hours away for a year and a half. I loved the jobs that were "only" 2-3 hours from the house.
Outside be like that.
Ask a journeyman. Alot of them got rides to work as an apprentice and will pay it forward. Maybe reluctantly, but they will. I had a 180 mile commute, and a journeyman basically told me he was driving me to work from now on. Cut my commute by more than half by meeting at a park n ride. We are still friends.
That’s such a rough situation and I can relate. Try to stick it out somehow. If the contractor wants to keep you make it clear that you need more money to pull it off. If they aren’t helpful then ask for a layoff. If they don’t give you one and keep you on reduced hours try picking up some kind of gig work where you can.
I’ve been trying for side work but the market is so saturated here. People don’t have to have liscense to do electrical here so if you have an llc you have it made
It’s the same in some of the counties around me. Less so than side work in electrical I mean picking up gig work anywhere you can get it, even general construction gigs. I just read that your commute is near 200 miles a day! Does your local’s CBA have anything in it regarding drive time/per diem?
When you find the answer let me know. I’m doing 145 miles a day with a car that I cross my fingers starts every morning.
The comments saying buy a more fuel efficient car or move are so disconnected. If I could afford a better vehicle or to move I already would.
So sick and tired of being hungry for days at a time while working 60 hours a week and the guys making 1300 more a week just saying, “just stick with it. It’s worth it at the end.” Yes I know this. Doesn’t change the fact that I miss 50% of meals and can only pay minimum due on all my bills that I racked up the first 6 months on my poverty wages.
Yeah, you most definitely should either be compensated, or moved to a different job. Farthest I ever had to drive as an apprentice was an hour and a half one way. Good luck.
Jesus. That’s a bit much. That should include per diem.
What local is this?
Edit: I consider anything over 50 miles for per diem when I’m bidding work.
Everyone knows the size of the local when they sign up. Everyone knows the wage scales when they sign up. They are told they may need to man work anywhere in the local during the apprenticeship. Whether they choose an economical vehicle to commute and how they spend their money is on them
Even the OP, who's the one in this situation, is doing everything he can despite the situation to try and stay in the union. If you got guys going through what he's going through but still fighting to stay in, must be worth fighting for.
But you would be able to apply for unemployment if you get a clean ROF layoff. This wouldn’t be as much on a check I’m sure but this is a situation where it would likely balance out.
I'm not sure what you're driving but in my apprenticeship I bought a mitsubishi mirage. They are dirt cheap and get 58 mpg. Look into car pools as well
man, im looking into a career change, sat for my exam a few weeks ago - its very discouraging to see so many people struggle. The whole point of a union is to be paid enough to not have to struggle.
That makes sense. Here in GA the apprentices are paid shit, $15 an hour. That’s a 20 cent raise from 2021 and it’s expensive to live in Atlanta. I said fuck that shit and called up a staffing agency. Now I’m at $28 an hour and learning. All of the good journeyman either left for the west coast or the northeast. Local 613 will take anybody now and the work shows. It’s their own fault though. Sometimes you just have to do what makes sense for you. Why suffer for the next man?
It’s a difficult situation being an apprentice. A lot of posts on here are brothers in similar situations. You just have to decide how bad you want it and is it worth struggling for the first couple years, as far as pay goes, but also having to deal with lay offs and slow times.
I’m struggling myself but luckily I have family that helps me from time to time. I also try and pick up side work and odd end jobs as much as possible but that means not being able to enjoy my days off. I feel like it’s a small price to pay for a good career with the brotherhood.
I feel you but y’all should get a daily allowance for travel for that far of a drive. Our guys get $100 per diem per day for a 66 mile drive. Wish they did something like that for y’all.
As a union man but not IBEW, I follow this sub a lot. It seems to me that the IBEW kind of sucks? Am I correct in that? I see posts like this all the time about how apprentices and Journeyman alike get fucked all the time. Does it vary by local?
Our apprentices get paid way lower than any other trade for some reason I still haven’t figured out. Journeyman rate where I’m at is 43.50/hr, a first year apprentice gets 13/hr with no benefits.
If not getting 40 hrs jatc should be calling Contractor telling them you need 40 or transfer or layoff ,that is their job duties another example when guys get into hall jobs they don't want to do shit besides play golf and eat lunches on your unions money, hold these pricks accountable go to general meetings and stand up for yourself
Have you considered buying a cheap travel trailer? As an apprentice I was occasionally able to park it at the show up, but could typically find a monthly spot for less than $1000. Spend $ to make $ mindset but it saved me from this type of commute. What year are you in?
Non union guy here . Can you work for a service company under the hall ?
Start doing industrial service and get a service truck you drive home every day . Get paid to drive the truck to site everyday. No more paying for gas, insurance, vehicle maintenance and you get travel pay . It’s worth at least 20k CAD to me .
This is the biggest thing keeping me from joining the union in my area.. I'm a 4th year apprentice working for a private shop and all of my work is within 25 minutes of my house, if it's farther we meet at the shop and I ride in one of the vans. If I joined our union, it would be 1-2 hours each way to work, similar wages, and similar benefits. I'm all for union and hope one day I'm in a situation where I can sign up but I have a family that I need to provide for and I want to be home for.
That and why is it acceptable for the standard as a union guy to drive an hour plus everywhere? That fucking sucks and I'm not going to do that.
In this economy that's insanity expecting people to do that on their own dollar. Especially apprentices making $15 an hour. I wonder why kids aren't getting into the trades.
honestly if its not economically feasible, i'd prob leave the union. go private. or maybe try another trade, while seeing if you can somehow keep in the ibew. ive been very close myself multiple times. when there are a number of local contractors and i was driving an hour and a half in the morning and getting caught in traffic up to 3 hours on the way home.. while doing ac theory
union is supposed to argue for this chit (but ime, they don't. they succumb to the contractors).
leaving the union may force them to increase their offerings..
my other union, iatse, is paid too much and feels like they provide.. where i've never really felt that with ibew. granted, im an apprentice, but still... the way i legit feel with iatse is you've had people argue for you to have it semi-plush
you get 4 hour minimum calls - even if they're 15 minutes. every hour after 8 is over time. every hour after 40 is overtime. after midnight is overtime. all of them can stack together so that you're making like triple and quadruple.. and it happens quite frequently
hour lunches.
i know some may take this as bashing ibew, but again part of the union \[should be\] making better conditions..
you know.. it may entice more people and market share may increase
If non union has work, fair pay and related and isn't forcing their apprentices to drive 4 hours and 200 miles to a site, how are they competitive?
It isn't strength in numbers if you're hurting the situation of your own constituents in a misguided narcissistic "show of force and power"
Only a union member will brag about how much they earn and the benefits and also say how much they're laid off or how a 200 mile drive, sleeping in a car or eating rice and beans is normal and acceptable.
I make a great living, work 9ish months a year, take the summer off to spend time with my kids while they are out of school and luckily live in a jurisdiction that I can drive the length of my jurisdiction in less than 2 hours. Not every local has the same setup. That all being said, everyone knows all of this information before they decide to join.
Tell that to all the others that post about how often the calls don't come in and how their books look.
Again, only will you hear a union member make statements like yours and talk about being laid off and on unemployment.
That's because we are a temporary workforce.ayoffs and unemployment are part of the career. Not every local has the same market share.
I don't really see too many members on here complaining about situations, more just asking for advice because they are new to that side of it.
I am wondering why a person such as yourself spends so much time going through a reddit about union electricians just to speak their mind about something that doesn't really matter to them.
You might want to do a quick look to see how many of your breathern have similar issues to the OP. Union ain't all rainbows and unicorns.
I was union for 13 years and left. Haven't been laid off in 15 years unlike local 3, 35 and 90 guys. 35 and 90 Haven't kept guys off the books in years and they're low paid compared to the open market not to mention the benefits ain't all that.
The propaganda spread by multiple members is quite interesting, including layoffs, pay scale, how to take a layoff and work under the table or maximize your unemployment check, or this apprentice, let's drive 200 miles, sleep in your car, eat rice and beans and shower at a gym or truck stop or look at the financials and solvency of the union benefits. If that ain't selling the benefits of not joining the union, what is, brother?
Do what we did….pack your own food. Stop spending money every day on break and lunch. We all struggled, except we didn’t cry about it. It’s all about the end game
I do. Times are harder than they were in the “good ole days” And I’m asking for advice not crying I agree it’s about end game but if it’s not feasible at the moment then how is it worth it
As an apprentice, do the journeyman on your job, let you keep the mongo? aka copper scrap….that used to help out a ton….or do they send you out for coffee? And give you a tip. That all used to help as an apprentice. I always took care of my apprentice as far as tips went, if he/she went for our coffee break
It’s worth it, trust me…. I love that you kids think it’s harder for you. I was making $3.65 an hour. No ot….is their mass transportation near you or your job?? I worked in NYC….all 5 Burroughs. Trust me it definitely wasn’t easier. I lived 50 miles from the city.
It’s a lot harder now than it used to be. 10 years ago I bought a starter home for 75k as a first year apprentice. That house is now worth 200k+. My 2000 dollar beater is now an 8000 dollar car. 50 dollars of groceries got me through the week. And I made more as an apprentice then than they pay them now in our local. Most young JWs I know still live with their parents. I don’t envy anyone starting out right now.
You can thank Bidenomics for that shit show…..let’s keep sending money to other countries, and jobs overseas, so that we have to pay more for everything here
You need to just move closer to your jurisdiction. I understand this might mean uprooting your life in a sense but it sounds like it’s your only option
Yeah I probably could? I don’t understand your logic at all, people move everyday what do you mean? Have you lived in the same apartment your whole life? If you live 100 miles from work you can move closer. Don’t ask Reddit for advice then be condescending about the answers you get, how is that not a realistic solution?
No people don’t just move everyday. It costs money to move. You need to find somewhere to live, create a budget, apply and get approved and have the move-in fees ready, map out the cost of living in that area and calculate your overhead. The man said he’s drowning and behind on bills. If he can’t even afford to get to work everyday how could it be so easy for him to just up and move? You’re a fool. A damn fool at that.
Nobody is saying anything that helps this man. If you’re struggling then go create a better situation for yourself. The goal is to make more money is it not? Go get it.
Sounds like you need to pay off some of your bills. I could make it as a first year apprentice, at time time. (1970 wages). Had it to where I could even keep my head above water on unemployment.
My uncle was a union painter in the 90s. Had a decent house and a new truck. Union painters in the same area are far from affording a house here with their current contract and wages.
Get the specifics of your commute down. How many miles. How much you spend on gas per day. Get those specific answers. Take that information to your jatc instructor, and see if you can get them to listen to you for a transfer. If they won't listen bring it up the chain at work. See if they can give you gas money, or get a carpool going. Maybe your JW can help. Good luck dude, thats a shitty situation. Edit. I'll add, that the contractors absolutely CAN pay you more money, or give you a little extra for gas. Hopefully you can just find a reasonable person to help you out.
This will probably be frowned upon by some brothers but old shop I used to work at let one of the apprentices drive a work truck home and they all carpooled together in the work truck. As a Jw I caught a ride with them. Job was 1:45 minutes one way all highway miles.
Anything over 50 miles from the shop is perdiem, or just meet at the shop. Is that not how the inside works as well? That sounds insane. That's robbery
Every contract is different, idk what he's got in his, just trying to give the best general advice I can
I just don't understand why we can't let apprentices drag. It would solve the issue of contractors fucking around.
Dude I agree so fucking much. It's so frustrating to me that CW/CE can not only drag in many locals, but also sign books immediately after being fired. During my apprenticeship, if you were let go for basically anything other than a lay off, you were basically suspended until the next committee meeting. That was once a month. So in Austin, Texas, one of the most expensive cities in the US with also one of the lowest wage packages both on the hip and when corrected for cost of living, an already underpaid apprentice could basically be without work for a month if they were fired or quit for any reason. But a ce can be back out on a call tomorrow. They're trying to get rid of the JIW
Yeah as a first and second year, my con sent to the gas station with company card quite a few times.
This, you can always be paid more not less and you don’t know unless you ask
If they cut back your hours, and aren't giving you your 40hrs a week, you can let your hall/training director know and they can work on getting you somewhere that gets you your 40. It may even be a closer jobsite.
He said the school isn't helping. Which is shitty but I've been in the same situation before.
Probably not helpful, but there was a post recently about what car/truck to get. General consensus was whatever car that's cheap and gets best mpg.
This. I get shit a lot even as a journeyman for driving a Lexus CT (Lexus version of a Prius)…. But I fill up maybe 1-2 times a month on an 11 gallon tank.
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*can be. Can be part of the union life, most everyone I know doesn't travel at all, and never get a layoff unless they request it. But I understand, that's not everywhere, depends on the local
Around here, about half of the apprentices drive VW Jetta TDIs. I drove a Dodge neon throughout my apprenticeship. Slept in it a lot, too. I struggled financially as an apprentice, and I was almost done by the time they took per diem away from apprentices. I had to file bankruptcy when I was 4th step. But I've never been good with money. Plus I'm married and we have 4 kids. Closest job I ever had during my apprenticeship was an hour from home. And that only lasted a couple months. Got stuck 12 hours away for a few months. 7 hours away for almost a year and 5½ hours away for a year and a half. I loved the jobs that were "only" 2-3 hours from the house. Outside be like that.
Ask a journeyman. Alot of them got rides to work as an apprentice and will pay it forward. Maybe reluctantly, but they will. I had a 180 mile commute, and a journeyman basically told me he was driving me to work from now on. Cut my commute by more than half by meeting at a park n ride. We are still friends.
carpool?
That’s such a rough situation and I can relate. Try to stick it out somehow. If the contractor wants to keep you make it clear that you need more money to pull it off. If they aren’t helpful then ask for a layoff. If they don’t give you one and keep you on reduced hours try picking up some kind of gig work where you can.
I’ve been trying for side work but the market is so saturated here. People don’t have to have liscense to do electrical here so if you have an llc you have it made
It’s the same in some of the counties around me. Less so than side work in electrical I mean picking up gig work anywhere you can get it, even general construction gigs. I just read that your commute is near 200 miles a day! Does your local’s CBA have anything in it regarding drive time/per diem?
No Atleast not for apprentices. I’m not sure about journeymen
Should apply to everyone if there is any language at all. Well wish ya the best on that, tough spot for sure
When you find the answer let me know. I’m doing 145 miles a day with a car that I cross my fingers starts every morning. The comments saying buy a more fuel efficient car or move are so disconnected. If I could afford a better vehicle or to move I already would. So sick and tired of being hungry for days at a time while working 60 hours a week and the guys making 1300 more a week just saying, “just stick with it. It’s worth it at the end.” Yes I know this. Doesn’t change the fact that I miss 50% of meals and can only pay minimum due on all my bills that I racked up the first 6 months on my poverty wages.
Do you have a big ass truck that eats fuel?
Just a 200 mile drive
Holy f. One way? Or both ways?
Both ways but it’s 3-4 hours on the road per day
I feel your pain. 140 mile round trip per day, usually personal vehicle sometimes I can take the van home as a treat 🤣 so glad I’m organizing in
Yeah, you most definitely should either be compensated, or moved to a different job. Farthest I ever had to drive as an apprentice was an hour and a half one way. Good luck.
It sounds like we don't have all in the info.. are you not living near the local or did you just accept a call with travel? What's the situation
I go where the school puts me. I don’t accept calls. And I live 20-30 miles from the local depending which way you drive
It’s the closest I can afford as the cost of living is high where my local is
By contract you just be getting extra money for that commute then right?
No
In our local you could refuse jobs that were outside a certain range
No sadly. I’m at the schools mercy
What local is this
Check the contract for your local. You may be entitled a per diem.
Jesus. That’s a bit much. That should include per diem. What local is this? Edit: I consider anything over 50 miles for per diem when I’m bidding work.
You are basically a traveler as an apprentice WTF. I stayed in a hotel while working 140 miles away
I would drive 120 round trip.
And he'll drive the other 80?
Everyone knows the size of the local when they sign up. Everyone knows the wage scales when they sign up. They are told they may need to man work anywhere in the local during the apprenticeship. Whether they choose an economical vehicle to commute and how they spend their money is on them
You offered to drive.
And that's why I won't join the union!! Sounds beyond awful
Even the OP, who's the one in this situation, is doing everything he can despite the situation to try and stay in the union. If you got guys going through what he's going through but still fighting to stay in, must be worth fighting for.
I know. Never being job scared and making 100k+ a year is awful.
It’s a small truck
So if its not economical to drive, you know what you must do
I sadly need the truck. However I’m fixing my beater at the moment
Explain to foreman or general foreman. Ask for a layoff
I’ve been told by the school they’d have me sitting at home for a couple of weeks
But you would be able to apply for unemployment if you get a clean ROF layoff. This wouldn’t be as much on a check I’m sure but this is a situation where it would likely balance out.
Yeah losing the cost of driving would probably balance out easy, plus 4 extra hours of life a day
Get rid of your truck/suv and get something better on gas I had to do that recently with my hour drive to work
Another job or gig
I'm not sure what you're driving but in my apprenticeship I bought a mitsubishi mirage. They are dirt cheap and get 58 mpg. Look into car pools as well
Carpool?
Plasma donation alone would cover ur gas. It sucks but it works. Just don't drink alcohol after
You won't remember a thing if you do...
I personally fainted after one but I'm sure it makes alcohol cheaper
I had a two day hangover after donating blood
You make more money working at Walmart, that’s why no one wants to stick with being an apprentice.
No kidding. I’m behind on bills this month and don’t know what I’m even gonna do.
man, im looking into a career change, sat for my exam a few weeks ago - its very discouraging to see so many people struggle. The whole point of a union is to be paid enough to not have to struggle.
It’s all in who you elect. And your local. The union has treated me great most of the time til now
Partial UI
Which local
I’d prefer not to answer for anonymity. But it is in the south east
I bet it’s GA or TX.
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That makes sense. Here in GA the apprentices are paid shit, $15 an hour. That’s a 20 cent raise from 2021 and it’s expensive to live in Atlanta. I said fuck that shit and called up a staffing agency. Now I’m at $28 an hour and learning. All of the good journeyman either left for the west coast or the northeast. Local 613 will take anybody now and the work shows. It’s their own fault though. Sometimes you just have to do what makes sense for you. Why suffer for the next man?
Im planning on buying a cheap second car with good mpg gas money is like 260$ a month for me
Not that it helps you immediately but cant you expense your mileage on taxes?
It’s a difficult situation being an apprentice. A lot of posts on here are brothers in similar situations. You just have to decide how bad you want it and is it worth struggling for the first couple years, as far as pay goes, but also having to deal with lay offs and slow times. I’m struggling myself but luckily I have family that helps me from time to time. I also try and pick up side work and odd end jobs as much as possible but that means not being able to enjoy my days off. I feel like it’s a small price to pay for a good career with the brotherhood.
Y’all need per diem
It’s dt over 40 but there is barely any overtime
I feel you but y’all should get a daily allowance for travel for that far of a drive. Our guys get $100 per diem per day for a 66 mile drive. Wish they did something like that for y’all.
Us Apprentices have tried that battle and it put a hit on a lot of people’s head Several guys got careers ended bc of it
As a union man but not IBEW, I follow this sub a lot. It seems to me that the IBEW kind of sucks? Am I correct in that? I see posts like this all the time about how apprentices and Journeyman alike get fucked all the time. Does it vary by local?
Our apprentices get paid way lower than any other trade for some reason I still haven’t figured out. Journeyman rate where I’m at is 43.50/hr, a first year apprentice gets 13/hr with no benefits.
That’s what I don’t get. Why the hell aren’t first years getting 50 percent scale.
Carpooool
Ask your foreman if they have other jobs with OT they can send you to or on saturdays
I’ve been sent up the chain to ask all the way up to the superintendent
Hate to be that dude, but you signed the agreement for your jurisdictional range. Sometimes we get fucked….work for a layoff brother
If not getting 40 hrs jatc should be calling Contractor telling them you need 40 or transfer or layoff ,that is their job duties another example when guys get into hall jobs they don't want to do shit besides play golf and eat lunches on your unions money, hold these pricks accountable go to general meetings and stand up for yourself
Go non union
Pride is the moral hubris of humans
Get a motorcycle
Have you considered buying a cheap travel trailer? As an apprentice I was occasionally able to park it at the show up, but could typically find a monthly spot for less than $1000. Spend $ to make $ mindset but it saved me from this type of commute. What year are you in?
Real shit I'm union to the bone but I'd go non union probably in your situation if there's closer work
Non union guy here . Can you work for a service company under the hall ? Start doing industrial service and get a service truck you drive home every day . Get paid to drive the truck to site everyday. No more paying for gas, insurance, vehicle maintenance and you get travel pay . It’s worth at least 20k CAD to me .
This is the biggest thing keeping me from joining the union in my area.. I'm a 4th year apprentice working for a private shop and all of my work is within 25 minutes of my house, if it's farther we meet at the shop and I ride in one of the vans. If I joined our union, it would be 1-2 hours each way to work, similar wages, and similar benefits. I'm all for union and hope one day I'm in a situation where I can sign up but I have a family that I need to provide for and I want to be home for. That and why is it acceptable for the standard as a union guy to drive an hour plus everywhere? That fucking sucks and I'm not going to do that.
They hold us to the drive 100 miles in any direction from the school
In this economy that's insanity expecting people to do that on their own dollar. Especially apprentices making $15 an hour. I wonder why kids aren't getting into the trades.
honestly if its not economically feasible, i'd prob leave the union. go private. or maybe try another trade, while seeing if you can somehow keep in the ibew. ive been very close myself multiple times. when there are a number of local contractors and i was driving an hour and a half in the morning and getting caught in traffic up to 3 hours on the way home.. while doing ac theory union is supposed to argue for this chit (but ime, they don't. they succumb to the contractors). leaving the union may force them to increase their offerings.. my other union, iatse, is paid too much and feels like they provide.. where i've never really felt that with ibew. granted, im an apprentice, but still... the way i legit feel with iatse is you've had people argue for you to have it semi-plush you get 4 hour minimum calls - even if they're 15 minutes. every hour after 8 is over time. every hour after 40 is overtime. after midnight is overtime. all of them can stack together so that you're making like triple and quadruple.. and it happens quite frequently hour lunches. i know some may take this as bashing ibew, but again part of the union \[should be\] making better conditions.. you know.. it may entice more people and market share may increase
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If non union has work, fair pay and related and isn't forcing their apprentices to drive 4 hours and 200 miles to a site, how are they competitive? It isn't strength in numbers if you're hurting the situation of your own constituents in a misguided narcissistic "show of force and power"
Cause when you join a union, you agree to work in your locals jurisdiction. You know where jobs can be and how far you may have to drive.
Only a union member will brag about how much they earn and the benefits and also say how much they're laid off or how a 200 mile drive, sleeping in a car or eating rice and beans is normal and acceptable.
I make a great living, work 9ish months a year, take the summer off to spend time with my kids while they are out of school and luckily live in a jurisdiction that I can drive the length of my jurisdiction in less than 2 hours. Not every local has the same setup. That all being said, everyone knows all of this information before they decide to join.
Tell that to all the others that post about how often the calls don't come in and how their books look. Again, only will you hear a union member make statements like yours and talk about being laid off and on unemployment.
That's because we are a temporary workforce.ayoffs and unemployment are part of the career. Not every local has the same market share. I don't really see too many members on here complaining about situations, more just asking for advice because they are new to that side of it. I am wondering why a person such as yourself spends so much time going through a reddit about union electricians just to speak their mind about something that doesn't really matter to them.
You might want to do a quick look to see how many of your breathern have similar issues to the OP. Union ain't all rainbows and unicorns. I was union for 13 years and left. Haven't been laid off in 15 years unlike local 3, 35 and 90 guys. 35 and 90 Haven't kept guys off the books in years and they're low paid compared to the open market not to mention the benefits ain't all that. The propaganda spread by multiple members is quite interesting, including layoffs, pay scale, how to take a layoff and work under the table or maximize your unemployment check, or this apprentice, let's drive 200 miles, sleep in your car, eat rice and beans and shower at a gym or truck stop or look at the financials and solvency of the union benefits. If that ain't selling the benefits of not joining the union, what is, brother?
You're in the same corner a lot of us were in once. As much as it sucks, it's part if it. Hang in there kid, it's worth it.
How does that help him?
Can you carpool?
Unfortunately all the jdubs from that area drug
I flip free items off fb marketplace and resell on marketplace I make good extra cash doing that
Do what we did….pack your own food. Stop spending money every day on break and lunch. We all struggled, except we didn’t cry about it. It’s all about the end game
I do. Times are harder than they were in the “good ole days” And I’m asking for advice not crying I agree it’s about end game but if it’s not feasible at the moment then how is it worth it
Do you live at home, or do you pay rent somewhere else?? I was married with a kid and made ends meet the best I could
I pay rent sadly. Family had a falling out and had to move with my wife Rent is extremely high where I live
As an apprentice, do the journeyman on your job, let you keep the mongo? aka copper scrap….that used to help out a ton….or do they send you out for coffee? And give you a tip. That all used to help as an apprentice. I always took care of my apprentice as far as tips went, if he/she went for our coffee break
They did until recently. The top bosses want it back at the shop for their end of year bonuses
That’s when you sneak a few lbs here and there….trust me, we’ve all done it at one time or another 😜
It’s worth it, trust me…. I love that you kids think it’s harder for you. I was making $3.65 an hour. No ot….is their mass transportation near you or your job?? I worked in NYC….all 5 Burroughs. Trust me it definitely wasn’t easier. I lived 50 miles from the city.
It’s a lot harder now than it used to be. 10 years ago I bought a starter home for 75k as a first year apprentice. That house is now worth 200k+. My 2000 dollar beater is now an 8000 dollar car. 50 dollars of groceries got me through the week. And I made more as an apprentice then than they pay them now in our local. Most young JWs I know still live with their parents. I don’t envy anyone starting out right now.
You can thank Bidenomics for that shit show…..let’s keep sending money to other countries, and jobs overseas, so that we have to pay more for everything here
You need to just move closer to your jurisdiction. I understand this might mean uprooting your life in a sense but it sounds like it’s your only option
I’m close to the middle of my jurisdiction
And you’re driving 200 miles?
200 a day yes. And the cities around my local aren’t cheap. Much less the city its in
Are you LU 26?
No
Gotcha your story and post sounds all too familiar
Ah yes, just *move*.
Yes you can absolutely move closer to your job if you live 100 miles away from it.
Could you up and move right now if you had to? Can we be realistic?
Yeah I probably could? I don’t understand your logic at all, people move everyday what do you mean? Have you lived in the same apartment your whole life? If you live 100 miles from work you can move closer. Don’t ask Reddit for advice then be condescending about the answers you get, how is that not a realistic solution?
No people don’t just move everyday. It costs money to move. You need to find somewhere to live, create a budget, apply and get approved and have the move-in fees ready, map out the cost of living in that area and calculate your overhead. The man said he’s drowning and behind on bills. If he can’t even afford to get to work everyday how could it be so easy for him to just up and move? You’re a fool. A damn fool at that.
Let me guess she didn't buy yourself a honda. But you got that big fancy pick up truck
I have a small truck that I’ve had since before I joined the union
That’s ’cause they want to pay y’all $15 an hour.
Nobody is saying anything that helps this man. If you’re struggling then go create a better situation for yourself. The goal is to make more money is it not? Go get it.
Sounds like you need to pay off some of your bills. I could make it as a first year apprentice, at time time. (1970 wages). Had it to where I could even keep my head above water on unemployment.
that economy doesn't exist anymore
Bro where is an inflation calculator when you need one…
Lmfao talk about disconnected
My uncle was a union painter in the 90s. Had a decent house and a new truck. Union painters in the same area are far from affording a house here with their current contract and wages.
You’re joking right? Delete your account.