# Joining Union



## eejack (Jul 14, 2012)

While I am not from your area, any employment union or non union, will have its cycles of employment. Trade unions are set up for the laying off and hiring of workers, so union members have a greater propensity for being laid off. ( I once got laid off 20 times in one year ).

On the other hand, the international has a broad range of schooling and by being able to work anywhere on the continent, a broad range of available work, especially if you like to travel.

In the last ten years I have worked on pretty much anything you can describe doing all sorts of different things.

You ought to go to the Local 105 office and talk with one of the agents there to see if they have what you are looking for. See if they will let you talk to some of their members in the day room or on a jobsite.

Best of luck.


----------



## greenman (Apr 20, 2012)

I work for the Canadian Union of skilled worker,ex ibew 1788 ontario
where a u from


----------



## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

If you can get in the union and they have work, it will be a decent choice affecting your learning, earning and retirement generally all for the better.

In our local many men stay with contractors for long periods and seldom see layoffs. Of course in a bad economy this may not hold up, but generally speaking they have consistent employment. Service workers often never see a lay off.


----------



## CanadianSparky (May 10, 2011)

brian john said:


> If you can get in the union and they have work, it will be a decent choice affecting your learning, earning and retirement generally all for the better.
> 
> In our local many men stay with contractors for long periods and seldom see layoffs. Of course in a bad economy this may not hold up, but generally speaking they have consistent employment. Service workers often never see a lay off.


My main concern right now is lay-offs.....like even seeing a 2 weeks lay-off worries the hell out of me. I don't like sitting at home anyways as weird as that sounds.


----------



## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

CanadianSparky said:


> My main concern right now is lay-offs.....like even seeing a 2 weeks lay-off worries the hell out of me. I don't like sitting at home anyways as weird as that sounds.


I would hate being laid off, I was let go once and immediately found work, but the uncertainty did not sit well with me.


----------



## eejack (Jul 14, 2012)

CanadianSparky said:


> My main concern right now is lay-offs.....like even seeing a 2 weeks lay-off worries the hell out of me. I don't like sitting at home anyways as weird as that sounds.


The big down side to working union is unions are designed for laying off and hiring workers - so you tend to get laid off more often than non union workers.

If it is a big concern, you should perhaps avoid going union.

I keep myself very busy during my layoffs with other things, but I enjoy the variety and the free time. I do lots of volunteer work, I work at other trades, pretty much anything that interests me.


----------

