# union future????



## bfaze (Jan 6, 2011)

I'm a 40 yr old Chicago A-card JW that just got laid off, we have 2100+ on the books with a waitnig time of about 2+ years. I have a decent amount of $ in the bank but i'm wondering if i should stick with it or find a new job doing something else? Things look very dismal,opinions please, thanks guys.


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## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

I don't see the economy improving anytime soon ......... but what the hell do I know .........


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## Johncin (May 5, 2011)

bfaze said:


> I'm a 40 yr old Chicago A-card JW that just got laid off, we have 2100+ on the books with a waitnig time of about 2+ years. I have a decent amount of $ in the bank but i'm wondering if i should stick with it or find a new job doing something else? Things look very dismal,opinions please, thanks guys.


that's about how things are if you're union w/o your own shop now in Illinois....union guys are taking a big hit


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

It is a very difficult time and making drastic decisions now at your age could alter your chances of a decent retirement (if that is even possible)..

I would look at a options, changing careers, relocating (to where?????), taking on another trade?, going open shop outside your locals area.

I have no answers and these thoughts are not the best. BUT sitting on your tushie is not good for you in the long run, you have to do something.


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## mikeh32 (Feb 16, 2009)

I am a first year apprentice, and I have been out 11 months.....

Things are far from getting better


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

Put your name on the list, then go and do your thing for a while.


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## henderson14 (Oct 23, 2010)

HackWork said:


> Put your name on the list, then go and do your thing for a while.



I would agree with this. I am also in Chicago. The thing is, is that employment is not predicted to get to pre recession levels for 4 more years at least and construction always lags the economy and is worse. Guys are coming back now from being out for years and only working a job or two and getting laid off again, facing another year or two out. You have to find something else until the economy is at least to where it was before the crash, which could be a long time. A lot of guys in the local just want to sit around their homes and complain and blame their unemployment on everyone and everything else but them, yet won't look for another career.


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## Frasbee (Apr 7, 2008)

mikeh32 said:


> I am a first year apprentice, and I have been out 11 months.....
> 
> Things are far from getting better


So you're a 1st month apprentice?


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## Mr Rewire (Jan 15, 2011)

Its 3-4 years for full recovery but it will take 6-8 for things to get to the levels they were in 05.


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## mikeh32 (Feb 16, 2009)

i have 2 months thank you very much....

But i do have a year of schooling


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

mikeh32 said:


> i have 2 months thank you very much....
> 
> But i do have a year of schooling


What are you doing for work? (If you dare answer).


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## user4818 (Jan 15, 2009)

Mr Rewire said:


> Its 3-4 years for full recovery but it will take 6-8 for things to get to the levels they were in 05.


I sincerely doubt we will ever go back to the days of 2005. I think we can safely assume a boom like that is permanently behind us.


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

Peter D said:


> I sincerely doubt we will ever go back to the days of 2005. I think we can safely assume a boom like that is permanently behind us.


I heard that in 1972, 1980, 1991 and 2001. Who knows if any of us had that answer we’d be on a Wall Street forum, not posting here.


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## user4818 (Jan 15, 2009)

brian john said:


> I heard that in 1972, 1980, 1991 and 2001. Who knows if any of us had that answer we’d be on a Wall Street forum, not posting here.


I'm not trying to be pessimistic, but how is it going to happen? By printing more money?


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## Jlarson (Jun 28, 2009)

bfaze said:


> *union future*


Oxymoron?





I just applied something I learned in English :laughing:


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## henderson14 (Oct 23, 2010)

Peter D said:


> I sincerely doubt we will ever go back to the days of 2005. I think we can safely assume a boom like that is permanently behind us.



Ya. The economy will some day get back. IF you study history you will realize that the economy always takes swings into recessions, depressions, booms, etc. It may be a decade or more from now but eventually the vacant buildings will be filled up and new ones will have to be built, people will leave the trade, and our financial system will normalize. The economy has already been growing and we are by definition out of the recession. It took a decade to get us into this mess so it will not improve overnight.


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

Peter D said:


> I'm not trying to be pessimistic, but how is it going to happen? By printing more money?


What we are doing now, spending more than we take in and printing more money will (IMO) only lengthen the time we are stuck in a recession.

Recession-When your neighbor is out of work.
Depression- When you are out of work


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## bfaze (Jan 6, 2011)

Jlarson said:


> Oxymoron?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You might want to learn it in Spanish, they seem to know where the work is.
:sneaky2:


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## bfaze (Jan 6, 2011)

Thanks for the opinions guys (i guess). Thinking of applying for the Pipefiitters as a Service Fitter or something, dont know if they are doing any better but seems like they always have work.


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## RIVETER (Sep 26, 2009)

bfaze said:


> I'm a 40 yr old Chicago A-card JW that just got laid off, we have 2100+ on the books with a waitnig time of about 2+ years. I have a decent amount of $ in the bank but i'm wondering if i should stick with it or find a new job doing something else? Things look very dismal,opinions please, thanks guys.


I have said it many, many times. If time is available for you to receive training in HVAC, and it appears that you do; DO IT. It is a very quick learn if you are a qualified electrician and you will not be out of work as often.


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

RIVETER said:


> I have said it many, many times. If time is available for you to receive training in HVAC, and it appears that you do; DO IT. It is a very quick learn if you are a qualified electrician and you will not be out of work as often.


That's right and if you can add in some building automation controls to the HVAC training your even better off.


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## al13nw4r3LC76 (Apr 6, 2009)

I cant even imagine 2 years off. Painful. It's hard enough for me to see the 9 months the JW's in my local are facing. I would definitely find something if I had to be off for longer then a couple months. 

Just recently I was off a month, went back to work for 6 weeks, and I'm staring down the barrel of 3 months again. It scares me a little knowing times are probably gonna be bad when I turn out.


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## mikeh32 (Feb 16, 2009)

brian john said:


> What are you doing for work? (If you dare answer).


I design cash registers, and cash register systems for large companies.


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

Peter D said:


> I sincerely doubt we will ever go back to the days of 2005. I think we can safely assume a boom like that is permanently behind us.



It will come back but we have to wait till 2013.:no:


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

Peter D said:


> I'm not trying to be pessimistic, but how is it going to happen? By printing more money?



That is the first thing they need to do stop printing money.


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

henderson14 said:


> Ya. The economy will some day get back. IF you study history you will realize that the economy always takes swings into recessions, depressions, booms, etc. It may be a decade or more from now but eventually the vacant buildings will be filled up and new ones will have to be built, people will leave the trade, and our financial system will normalize. The economy has already been growing and we are by definition out of the recession. It took a decade to get us into this mess so it will not improve overnight.





> It took a decade to get us into this mess


No it did not take a decade to get us into this mess it took a few short months..




> It may be a decade or more


.

 Maybe you can wait that long but we will not ,.

The people running the show right now need to be "FIRED" and replaced with people that know how to run a bussiness.


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## erics37 (May 7, 2009)

It'd be a good time to go to bartending school.

We had a low-voltage apprentice that moonlighted as a bartender. He did all right.


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

erics37 said:


> It'd be a good time to go to bartending school.
> 
> We had a low-voltage apprentice that moonlighted as a bartender. He did all right.


Unemployment goes up, liquor sales go up.


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## pjmurph2002 (Sep 18, 2009)

The people running the show right now need to be "FIRED" and replaced with people that know how to run a bussiness.:rolleyes:[/quote said:


> We are in this mess because of the greed factor. The people running the government are not the best and the brightest - they are the most corrupt. They are there to serve themselves, and only themselves. Until we change the way the officials are allowed to govern, nothing will change. They will continue to be bought and sold, they will continue to spew their propaganda, and continue to create more and more idiots in this country. Blaming one party or the other is the same as the moronic debate that goes on every few weeks on this site about union vs. non union.


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## knowshorts (Jan 9, 2009)

pjmurph2002 said:


> We are in this mess because of the greed factor.


True, but don't blame the government, blame stupid John and Suzie homeowner. If these idiots would have paid attention in economics class in high school, they would have learned to live within their means. Not bought more house than they could afford, and not borrowed against that house because they thought it was "their" money. 

The American Dream is not right. It's a privilege. A privilege for those who bust their ass and make wise decisions. I feel sorry for those that this has affected, but not for the ones that helped cause it.


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## henderson14 (Oct 23, 2010)

pjmurph2002 said:


> We are in this mess because of the greed factor. The people running the government are not the best and the brightest - they are the most corrupt. They are there to serve themselves, and only themselves. Until we change the way the officials are allowed to govern, nothing will change. They will continue to be bought and sold, they will continue to spew their propaganda, and continue to create more and more idiots in this country. Blaming one party or the other is the same as the moronic debate that goes on every few weeks on this site about union vs. non union.



You being from Illinois kind of skews your opinion of the govt. I used to live in Indiana where politicians have more integrity and since living in Chicago I have a similar view of politicians. We have one governor in prison right now and soon to be another.

Some of the other posters need to actually READ and educate themselves instead of spewing and reading opinions on message boards. Of course that is not as much fun and might use terminology you don't understand. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late-2000s_financial_crisis
There are numerous other sources also.

Here are the sources of the crisis. The answer is not in a one liner blame game like many of you imply.



1.1 Growth of the housing bubble
1.2 Easy credit conditions
1.3 Weak and fraudulent underwriting practice
1.4 Sub-prime lending
1.5 Predatory lending
1.6 Deregulation
1.7 Increased debt burden or over-leveraging
1.8 Financial innovation and complexity
1.9 Incorrect pricing of risk
1.10 Boom and collapse of the shadow banking system
1.11 Commodities boom
1.12 Systemic crisis


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## pjmurph2002 (Sep 18, 2009)

I think the last politician with integrity in this state was Glenn Poshard. He lost in the dem primary the first time Blago ran.


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

henderson14 said:


> Some of the other posters need to actually READ and educate themselves instead of spewing and reading opinions on message boards. Of course that is not as much fun and might use terminology you don't understand. QUOTE]
> 
> It is always easy to assume you know more than everyone else. Makes them stupid and you right.
> 
> Maybe those that post what they feel is right, are correct by what they believe and are not actually stupid like some of the elite like to think?


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## henderson14 (Oct 23, 2010)

brian john said:


> henderson14 said:
> 
> 
> > Some of the other posters need to actually READ and educate themselves instead of spewing and reading opinions on message boards. Of course that is not as much fun and might use terminology you don't understand. QUOTE]
> ...


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

henderson14 said:


> brian john said:
> 
> 
> > Using correct and believe in the same sentence is sort of an oxymoron. I've noticed that the less intelligent someone is and the less they know about a subject, the more they feel a need to make up things in order to feel smarter when they could just as easily try to discover and understand the facts.
> ...


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