# How many union guys does it take to screw in a light bulb?



## Trickelcharge (Mar 4, 2011)

We were wiring this house, and the power company shows up with like five or six trucks to hook up the overhead. Most of them just sit in the trucks some get out pour their coffee bs with each other. One guy hooks up the wires everyone else watches. All the trucks are running...All day long tax dollars up in smoke..sign me up!!!! :laughing:
don't get all pissy F N butthurt about it cause I know how the union guys operate, communism its ok like I said it just seems like a lot of manpower for a simple task. Am I out of line here?


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

Pretty sweet gig if you can get it.


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## erics37 (May 7, 2009)

MDShunk said:


> Pretty sweet gig if you can get it.


For sure! :thumbup:


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

Trickelcharge said:


> We were wiring this house, and the power company shows up with like five or six trucks to hook up the overhead. Most of them just sit in the trucks some get out pour their coffee bs with each other. One guy hooks up the wires everyone else watches. All the trucks are running...All day long tax dollars up in smoke..sign me up!!!! :laughing:
> don't get all pissy F N butthurt about it cause I know how the union guys operate, communism its ok like I said it just seems like a lot of manpower for a simple task. Am I out of line here?





> it just seems like a lot of manpower for a simple task. Am I out of line here?


Especially when you could do the overhead work your self..:laughing:


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## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

Trickelcharge said:


> We were wiring this house, and the power company shows up with like five or six trucks to hook up the overhead. Most of them just sit in the trucks some get out pour their coffee bs with each other. One guy hooks up the wires everyone else watches. All the trucks are running...*All day long tax dollars up in smoke.*


Tax dollars?

Really?






HARRY304E said:


> Especially when you could do the overhead work your self..:laughing:


But why would you want to?



Harry, tell the truth, you are not really an electrician ..... maybe a dog groomer?:laughing:


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

BBQ said:


> Tax dollars?
> 
> Really?
> 
> ...


 


> But why would you want to?


Just for the thrill off it..:thumbup:



> Harry, tell the truth, you are not really an electrician ..... maybe a dog groomer


How do you like my hair doo...:laughing:


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## drsparky (Nov 13, 2008)

It has nothing to do with the union, there is no clause in the contract stating "_it takes like five or six trucks to hook up a service_". Grow up, their could be many legitimate reasons for them to be in a group.


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

WTF do tax dollars have to do with a power company?


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

You can always trace those blunders back to either poor managers or to a management position that has been eliminated. There is nothing people dislike more than sitting around waiting. It makes for a very long day and produces ignorant comments from ignorant people like me.


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

BBQ said:


> Tax dollars?


I thought the same thing, but in some areas, the local municipality runs the utility.

Plus if this non-productive labor adds to your utility bill, which is taxed at a percentage, a stretch but money is money.

I have seen non-union utilities do the same thing, 5 watching 2 working. Sometimes it is duty guys so they have to be on the clock and there is nothing scheduled for them.


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## Mr Rewire (Jan 15, 2011)

brian john said:


> I thought the same thing, but in some areas, the local municipality runs the utility.
> 
> Plus if this non-productive labor adds to your utility bill, which is taxed at a percentage, a stretch but money is money.


 Municipal utilities do not get funded through general revenue.Almost everything we purchase is taxed at a percentage so that argument is a FAIL


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## Trickelcharge (Mar 4, 2011)

drsparky said:


> It has nothing to do with the union, there is no clause in the contract stating "_it takes like five or six trucks to hook up a service_". Grow up, their could be many legitimate reasons for them to be in a group.


As I stated no need to get all pissy about this, Its not a stab at any union by any means. These are all good guys and I can respect a man just trying to make a living you aren't going to catch me name calling, not my style I understand everyone is entitled to take break for crying out loud. Ive wired many of houses in the area and this happens all the time, and yes the power company is the Nuclear plant they send me a bill every month. So if you have any legitimate reasons I'm ready to hear about them. :walkman: The whole tax dollars thing was toward the five or six trucks that dont get shut off till the end of the day.


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

Mr Rewire said:


> Municipal utilities do not get funded through general revenue.Almost everything *we* purchase is taxed at a percentage so that argument is a FAIL


Now you are a public utility?

Not everything happens through the eyes of the sage of Missouri, Batman.


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## knowshorts (Jan 9, 2009)

They are a crew. Maybe their normal job is a lot more exciting. Maybe they were the closest to the residence when the dispatch came in. Are you gonna complain when the FD rolls 2 engines with 12 guys to a non life threatening TC?


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## Trickelcharge (Mar 4, 2011)

Omaha Public Power District AKA OPPD I believe thats a yes..


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## bill39 (Sep 4, 2009)

The original post begs a few questions:

1. What is management's responsibility for this action? Evidently they gave some sort of approval for this or 5-6 trucks would not have been there.

2. Were these POCO people where they were told to be?

3. How hard were YOU and your buddies working during this episode? Sounds like you had plenty of time to stand around and watch others do some work.

My wife worked at a hospital where a major expansion was taking place. She told me "We watched 5-6 construction guys just stand around for 10 minutes today and they never did a thing." Turns out she and 4 of her co-workers weren't doing anything either while watching these guys.


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## Trickelcharge (Mar 4, 2011)

knowshorts said:


> They are a crew. Maybe their normal job is a lot more exciting. Maybe they were the closest to the residence when the dispatch came in. Are you gonna complain when the FD rolls 2 engines with 12 guys to a non life threatening TC?


Now FD thats a whole different baby there are we talking about volunteer FD or Unoin FD. 'Whats that Tricksy the cat is up in the tree again' we'll be right there


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## ce2two (Oct 4, 2008)

D.W.P are known for setting up a job as if there working on a xformer on a pole:no:then kick back in the truck for hours sleeping or drive away come back in 5or 6 hrs.pick up ... then go home city of la is going broke ...ever ponder why.


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## Mr Rewire (Jan 15, 2011)

brian john said:


> Now you are a public utility?
> 
> Not everything happens through the eyes of the sage of Missouri, Batman.


 not a sage maybe a thyme or possibly a rosemarie, the point is a public utility is still not tax funded .Robin:laughing:


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## mdfriday (May 14, 2007)

Mr Rewire said:


> not a sage maybe a thyme or possibly a rosemarie, the point is a public utility is still not tax funded .Robin:laughing:


You can speak for all publically owned utilities? You have power beyond belief. 

Some of the charge I pay goes to pay for people that DO NOT pay thier bill, that is a tax.

Some of my tax dollars go to pay for people that do not pay thier bill. Yes, tax dollars fund utility companies. I do not know about ALL of them, but I would imagine some, or most are.

Utility companies in this state are privately owned, and are still regulated by the state.

There are some munincipaly owned deliverers in this area as well. I do not think you will convince me that taxes do not offset costs of that as well. I wonder what the BOND issues are for..... who pays the interest on the bonds? TAXPAYERS.


A response to the original post. Those guys are on shift and most likely would have been paid for thier shift no matter what....Might be time to downsize a bit, or furlogh.


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## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

mdfriday said:


> You can speak for all publically owned utilities? You have power beyond belief.
> 
> Some of the charge I pay goes to pay for people that DO NOT pay thier bill, that is a tax.


When I buy things at the local Home Depot some of that money pays for items stolen from the store, that does not make it 'Tax'.



> Yes, tax dollars fund utility companies. I do not know about ALL of them, but I would imagine some, or most are.


Please show some proof of that. 



> Utility companies in this state are privately owned, and are still regulated by the state.


Exactly so they are not funded by your taxes.



> There are some munincipaly owned deliverers in this area as well. I do not think you will convince me that taxes do not offset costs of that as well. I wonder what the BOND issues are for..... who pays the interest on the bonds? TAXPAYERS.


We have many municipal electrical providers around here, the one in my town loans moneys to the town, not the other way around.


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

Trickelcharge said:


> We were wiring this house, and the power company shows up with like five or six trucks to hook up the overhead. Most of them just sit in the trucks some get out pour their coffee bs with each other. One guy hooks up the wires everyone else watches. All the trucks are running...All day long tax dollars up in smoke..sign me up!!!! :laughing:
> don't get all pissy F N butthurt about it cause I know how the union guys operate, communism its ok like I said it just seems like a lot of manpower for a simple task. Am I out of line here?


Its nice to do that once in a while but Ill bet you are home nice and warm when those guys are by themselves working 12 hours a day in the middle of nowhere freezing their but, hands and faces off trying to restore power for someone.
Ill take inside work any day....:thumbsup:


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

jrannis said:


> Its nice to do that once in a while but Ill bet you are home nice and warm when those guys are by themselves working 12 hours a day in the middle of nowhere freezing their but, hands and faces off trying to restore power for someone.
> Ill take inside work any day....:thumbsup:


Copy that. I think linemen have some fundamental malfunction that makes them like that. Messed up DNA or something. It can't be because it's fun.


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## bobelectric (Feb 24, 2007)

When there is a major storm outage,you Goofs would be glad to see them!


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

bobelectric said:


> When there is a major storm outage,you Goofs would be glad to see them!


And they show up at a ratio of 6 to 1, 6 watching 1 working. Nothing different.


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## miller_elex (Jan 25, 2008)

brian john said:


> And they show up at a ratio of 6 to 1, 6 watching 1 working. Nothing different.


And they are all hillbilly rich. Twenty-G's more than a regular spark on average.


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

miller_elex said:


> And they are all hillbilly rich. Twenty-G's more than a regular spark on average.


In VA. their scale is based on this area, so line men get hired on here and will put in for a transfer to the south or west of the state where they can live like kings on NOVA money.


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## Sparky3 (Nov 21, 2010)

How many non-union guys does it take to hack in a light fixture?


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

Sparky3 said:


> How many non-union guys does it take to hack in a light fixture?


1/2 as many as the union?:blink:


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## speed006 (Apr 4, 2011)

So I guess I'll answer the question "How many Union guys does it take to screw in a light bulb"...We're too fat to get IN the light bulb let alone screw in it.


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