# Making a living as a Tramp...



## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

It's possible, people do it. I know of one website in which you can get information about where there is work: http://ibewfriendsandfamilynetworks.com/

Be aware, those guys are hardcore union guys, it's pretty sickening.


----------



## cabletie (Feb 12, 2011)

If you go, be sure to bookmark this site. 

http://where2bro.com


----------



## Shimy (May 24, 2015)

Thank you for the links guys.


----------



## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

My 2 favorite new sites.....


----------



## Bad Electrician (May 20, 2014)

There were a group of electricians I met about 10 years ago that had not worked in their local since they had been out of their time 5 or 6 electricians. 

One of the younger guys told me he had a Winnebago and summered near a beach and wintered near the slopes, if he could find a job there.

Great way to spend your youth I would think


----------



## kg7879 (Feb 3, 2014)

I know a few guys that do this. It is more out of necessity because their local doesn't ever have any work.


----------



## telsa (May 22, 2015)

Tramps -- tramping -- is the fundamental source of the term journeyman.

%%%%

Our "*Tramps Employed Here*" sign had to be taken down.

1) Too many skanks showed up.

2) It was deemed a sexist macro-aggression.

We had to get rid of our "Slots Open" sign for pretty much the same reason.

Who knew ?

( We sold it to a casino as teaser. )


----------



## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

kg7879 said:


> I know a few guys that do this. It is more out of necessity because their local doesn't ever have any work.


Funny thing. I worked from a guy out of Utah. He said he was from a suitcase local, only could find work on the road.


----------



## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

A lot of IBEW men think that this is the way it is supposed to work. Many of them will tell you that all members should be required to travel for a period of time. 

Many of these men make lots of money, but they send it home to their families while they sleep in a van in a parking lot of a hospital. It's not so bad because they spend most of their awake hours on the job making overtime. But it's still not a good way to live unless it's necessary, IMO.


----------



## Shimy (May 24, 2015)

I know a guy just retired out of local 477. He told me over his 35 years he only avg. 4 months a year of work. He was the type of guy the would work a 4-6 month long call the start unemployment and string it out as long as he could lol. I bet there are a lot of these guys in ibew.


----------



## bobbarker (Aug 6, 2015)

Shimy said:


> I know a guy just retired out of local 477. He told me over his 35 years he only avg. 4 months a year of work. He was the type of guy the would work a 4-6 month long call the start unemployment and string it out as long as he could lol. I bet there are a lot of these guys in ibew.


I haven't met any like that and if i do i will tell them to their face that they are a sack of crap and not much better than a ghetto queen


----------



## Colbert Report (Oct 21, 2010)

Plenty of work on the road with the IBEW right now. The whole west coast is a walk through. San Francisco pays $62/hour and San Jose pays $59/hour, anything over 35 hours a week is double time. Come and money up! I wouldn't want to do it long term but there is no work in my home local right now and I don't want to sit around collecting unemployment. I'm working 6/10s right now and my gross pay is over $5,000....per week. That's 250k a year. Not bad.


----------



## Shimy (May 24, 2015)

Is SJ also double time after 35 hours a week?


----------



## cabletie (Feb 12, 2011)

Are any CA state certificates/licenses needed to work in CA? Or do you just need a paid up dues receipt from your home local?


----------



## Colbert Report (Oct 21, 2010)

Bring a paid up dues receipt and letter of introduction from your BA out west. Sign up at a trade school for the California State Journeyman license exam prep course. I paid the Local 11 training centre in Los Angeles $400 for it. They will give you a receipt showing that you are enrolled in the class. Then, fill out a trainee license application, attach a check for $25, and send it off to the state. They'll send you back a trainee card and you can take a call in a lot of locals here in California with just that. Some calls will require a state license and some will allow you to take the call with the trainee card. Obviously you'll need to be a Journeyman Electrician in your home local, not an apprentice. The trainee card is good for a year.

You'll be required to actually take the prep class though, but they will give you some leniency if, for example, you've signed up for a class in one area of the state and end up working in another. You can just get a refund for the first class and book into another that suits you better.


----------



## Phatstax (Feb 16, 2014)

I have travelled 75% of the time I've been in IBEW, it has it's pros and cons. If you are serious about it check out Where2bro for info on work. It's a little bit behind so call before you go. Especially look into the rules of the road and double booking. It's a big country but a small world in the Brotherhood. The reputation you earn will follow you. 
As a side note, Is there a way to apply for and receive a trainee cert without actually being in Cali?


----------



## Colbert Report (Oct 21, 2010)

There may be - I paid $400 to Local 11 and they checked my travel letter, my SSN, and driver's license. I was reading on line that you can pay $150 to sign up through WECA and get the letter that you can then send in along with your application to the State, but I don't know if that is true.


----------

