# Working for shop that laid you off.



## henderson14 (Oct 23, 2010)

I got laid off as an apprentice from a shop that I got mediocre reviews from. They put in a call I have a chance to bid on. Is it wise to work for a shop that I got laid off from?


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## aftershockews (Dec 22, 2012)

henderson14 said:


> I got laid off as an apprentice from a shop that I got mediocre reviews from. They put in a call I have a chance to bid on. Is it wise to work for a shop that I got laid off from?


Are you currently unemployed?


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## Black Dog (Oct 16, 2011)

henderson14 said:


> I got laid off as an apprentice from a shop that I got mediocre reviews from. They put in a call I have a chance to bid on. Is it wise to work for a shop that I got laid off from?


Go for it, you need to get your work hours in, screw their review crap, it's their opinion and it's meaningless if you have been working hard to do a good job.


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## mikeh32 (Feb 16, 2009)

I have gone back to plenty of shops that laid me off. 

hell, one that fired me put a call in for me. 

that i did not take


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## eejack (Jul 14, 2012)

I do it all the time. Just act like a professional, take the call, do the job, smile when they lay you off again.

In my nearly thirty years I have worked for many contractors, many of them multiple times. It is the nature of the business.


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## Mshow1323 (Jun 9, 2012)

Correct me if I'm wrong, I have never been Union, so certainly don't know all the ins and outs. For the most part, unless you find a great shop to work for, don't you guys pretty much work project to project, and then when the jobs dry out with one company, you go back to the hall and wait in line? I hear from a lot of guys that they have worked for many contractors, and they seem to always be looking. Don't get me wrong, we get cut just as fast and often have trouble finding the next. I left a job after 10 years to open my own gig, so I really don't have any experience with looking for a job. Half of me wishes I was Union from the get go, but it was never in the cards


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## henderson14 (Oct 23, 2010)

Mshow1323 said:


> Correct me if I'm wrong, I have never been Union, so certainly don't know all the ins and outs. For the most part, unless you find a great shop to work for, don't you guys pretty much work project to project, and then when the jobs dry out with one company, you go back to the hall and wait in line? I hear from a lot of guys that they have worked for many contractors, and they seem to always be looking. Don't get me wrong, we get cut just as fast and often have trouble finding the next. I left a job after 10 years to open my own gig, so I really don't have any experience with looking for a job. Half of me wishes I was Union from the get go, but it was never in the cards


Kind of. I depends on who you are. Shops have their own guys who have proven themselves and they never lay off. Then you have everyone else who gets laid off when work is slow.


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## ampman66 (Dec 5, 2012)

henderson14 said:


> Kind of. I depends on who you are. Shops have their own guys who have proven themselves and/or are members of the E-board, or are related to the right officers at the hall


FIFY.:thumbsup:


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## Mshow1323 (Jun 9, 2012)

henderson14 said:


> Kind of. I depends on who you are. Shops have their own guys who have proven themselves and they never lay off. Then you have everyone else who gets laid off when work is slow.


Mostly the same as open shops then. You guys just have a better chance of quickly getting re-employed because of the hall, and of course there is always the payment package.


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## eejack (Jul 14, 2012)

Mshow1323 said:


> Correct me if I'm wrong...


It is a very simple system actually. A contractor calls the hall and asks for manpower, which the hall sends. The contractor can lay off anyone anytime they want and keep whomever they want.

Usually what happens is a contractor keeps the folks they want as foremen or specialists etc. and when a project is finished they send everyone else back to the hall. 

Some folks like to stick with a contractor and some folks like myself like to finish a project and go back down the hall - this system allows both to happen.

It works because sometimes a contractor needs a couple of guys for a week or two, or might need 100 men for two months, or might want to train up a specialty crew of some sort and keep them together for years.

It also works for the men because I know when I get laid off that the hall will put me on the list and when my turn comes up, I will go back to work.

All the interviewing and negotiating is removed from the process, everyone has a place in the process, there are standards, and all the methods for hiring and laying off are in place and relatively fair and open.

( and yes - ampman66 has a point - some contractors will hold onto men not for their abilities but because of their connections, as I am certain happens in the non union world as well )


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

I'm going to hire my son after he drops out of college 
(at least it looks like it might head that way...hoping not)
Does that make me despicable?


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## eejack (Jul 14, 2012)

macmikeman said:


> I'm going to hire my son after he drops out of college
> (at least it looks like it might head that way...hoping not)
> Does that make me despicable?


It makes you normal.

( it might be the only thing that makes you normal :laughing: )


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## Mshow1323 (Jun 9, 2012)

eejack said:


> It is a very simple system actually. A contractor calls the hall and asks for manpower, which the hall sends. The contractor can lay off anyone anytime they want and keep whomever they want.
> 
> Usually what happens is a contractor keeps the folks they want as foremen or specialists etc. and when a project is finished they send everyone else back to the hall.
> 
> ...


Well, when you put it like that, it's very difficult to have ill feelings about the union. I must say though, it really gets my goat when a job is halted because the insulators aren't union. Then all the other brothers decided to stop working, and the teamsters won't cross the line. Kind of despicable actually. You make us feel as if our kids don't deserve to eat because we're not in the "club."

That being said, if I was still looking for employment, I would love to have that wage package.


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## henderson14 (Oct 23, 2010)

Mshow1323 said:


> Well, when you put it like that, it's very difficult to have ill feelings about the union. I must say though, it really gets my goat when a job is halted because the insulators aren't union. Then all the other brothers decided to stop working, and the teamsters won't cross the line. Kind of despicable actually. You make us feel as if our kids don't deserve to eat because we're not in the "club."
> 
> That being said, if I was still looking for employment, I would love to have that wage package.


Well if it is a union job than the GC knows better than to hire non-union contractors for the job. Its just the risk they take if they do go that route and its not like its an innocent mistake on their part. If we let the insulators work non-union, next will be our jobs and we will be sitting at home.


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