# Leaving an IBEW contractor as an apprentice



## 1.21gigawatts (Jun 22, 2013)

Talk to your training director, they will be the ones to dispatch you to a new contractor reguardless.


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## dawgs (Dec 1, 2007)

Talk to your apprenticeship director. Tell him what you've been getting for hours. He will call your contractor and ask him to lay you off if there is another opportunity for you with another contractor.


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## Rollie73 (Sep 19, 2010)

I can't speak about how your local does things but apprentices in our local can quit. They get the same penalties as a JM would......bottom of the list and such.

If you aren't allowed to quit and move on then do exactly what these have said. Apprenticeship director.:thumbsup:


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## mapmd (Oct 26, 2014)

I've been looking into this union thing for awhile and it seems to me that while the pay is 10-20% higher and the benefits slightly better that work is MUCH more inconsistent.

I'm an apprentice (private sector, non union) with 14 months and have never had a week where overtime wasn't encouraged, and I've never been turned down when asking to work a Saturday. Almost all of January and February for me were 55-60 hour weeks with additional bonus for hitting that 55 mark (busy season, but it's not like the rest is slow).

Still trying to figure out what the union thing is all about and if it would be viable to switch over, or even worth it. Anyone able to explain how things work...in a bit of detail?


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## ShdwBxinSquirrl (May 14, 2012)

Thank you everybody for the replies. I spoke with someone at the JATC and he asked about my working situation the day I went in. I was told to sit that day. I spoke with the person from the JATC on the phone before I went in to the hallI so he knew my situation beforehand. Since I was sitting already for 3 days I was able to sign the book right then and there. Now I already work for a new company. First day starts tomorrow. I've been getting texts all weekend from the last company telling me there is work Monday. The owner of the company who refused to lay me off for lack of work is on vacation until Wednesday. I spoke with one of the JM and told him that I no longer work with them and told him my situation. He respects what I did and supports it 100%. I said thank you for the opportunity and thank you for teaching me everything that you did. I really enjoyed working with you and I learned a lot. I appreciate everything and hopefully we can work together again in the future. 



mapmd said:


> I've been looking into this union thing for awhile and it seems to me that while the pay is 10-20% higher and the benefits slightly better that work is MUCH more inconsistent.
> 
> I'm an apprentice (private sector, non union) with 14 months and have never had a week where overtime wasn't encouraged, and I've never been turned down when asking to work a Saturday. Almost all of January and February for me were 55-60 hour weeks with additional bonus for hitting that 55 mark (busy season, but it's not like the rest is slow).
> 
> Still trying to figure out what the union thing is all about and if it would be viable to switch over, or even worth it. Anyone able to explain how things work...in a bit of detail?


If you have steady work right now in private sector I suggest sticking with that. You seem to have already found a great company to work for. The union is great having all the benefits and the better pay. If I had a job beforehand with steady work and possibility of overtime, I wouldn't have joined the union. Also, if you don't know anybody in the local you apply to it is going to be quite difficult for you to join. It's all about who you know. 

As an apprentice for our local, as soon as you sign the book, you get a job right there on the spot. That's what has always happened for me but I got stuck with a crappy company where I didn't get paid a few times for overtime. I would constantly have to sit because the jobs only required a JM and that's it. I really got the short end of the stick with that contractor. We completed the first job adding a generator to a school and they liked me enough to want to keep me which is a self esteem boost because clearly I'm doing a decent enough job. But in hindsight I wish I had gotten laid off with the rest of the apprentices.

Other than this one company, I have had an overall great experience. I learned a lot from the guys I worked with. Had I been in your situation, I'd be stuck learning from the same set of guys whereas the union if you go on short calls here and there you gain a lot of knowledge from the JM. I wouldn't know as much as I do if it weren't for the union in my opinion. I've been lucky for the most part with the JM I have been paired with. Every single one of them has wanted to teach me everything they know. It has been rare for me to find guys that don't want to teach the apprentices. 

On another note, our local is making all apprentices go to college for our associates degree. I had 60+ credits from University and the community college didn't accept a single one. I have to go to school for two years regardless now. I wish I could just get my bachelor's degree at this point but they won't allow it. I dropped out of college to become an electrician and now I have to go back to college. Just my luck. In the end an associates degree will not benefit me job wise. It isn't going to push me on the top of the list because I will have a degree. It just makes our local essentially have bragging rights to gain more customers in theory. Potentially in the long run we can gain more customers which means more jobs but throughout my career I don't think it will matter one bit.


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## LGLS (Nov 10, 2007)

mapmd said:


> I've been looking into this union thing for awhile and it seems to me that while the pay is 10-20% higher and the benefits slightly better that work is MUCH more inconsistent.
> 
> I'm an apprentice (private sector, non union) with 14 months and have never had a week where overtime wasn't encouraged, and I've never been turned down when asking to work a Saturday. Almost all of January and February for me were 55-60 hour weeks with additional bonus for hitting that 55 mark (busy season, but it's not like the rest is slow).
> 
> *Still trying to figure out what the union thing is all about and if it would be viable to switch over, or even worth it. Anyone able to explain how things work...in a bit of detail?*


What ShdwBxinSquirrel wrote:



ShdwBxinSquirrl said:


> Thank you everybody for the replies. I spoke with someone at the JATC and he asked about my working situation the day I went in. I was told to sit that day.* I spoke with the person from the JATC on the phone before I went in to the hallI so he knew my situation beforehand. Since I was sitting already for 3 days I was able to sign the book right then and there. Now I already work for a new company. First day starts tomorrow.* I've been getting texts all weekend from the last company telling me there is work Monday. The owner of the company who refused to lay me off for lack of work is on vacation until Wednesday. I spoke with one of the JM and told him that I no longer work with them and told him my situation. He respects what I did and supports it 100%. I said thank you for the opportunity and thank you for teaching me everything that you did. I really enjoyed working with you and I learned a lot. I appreciate everything and hopefully we can work together again in the future.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


What I highlighted in *bold *are some of the reasons why being in a union can be advantageous. A member who should be working full-time is being asked to sit a home, for free, and basically be "on call." This is unacceptable from an employee's perspective - either you're employing me or not. Especially apprentices, who not only need that full weeks pay but also the required hours to advance through the apprenticeship. 

I don't know about Squirrel's working agreement, but here if an employer called or texted you to stay home because you wouldn't be put to work - you go in and get your tools, and pickup 2 hours show-up time, your check, and go sign the book for another job. If not, put them to work there is no in-between or "on call." (A periodic "stay home today" because a job shutdown or an unexpected blizzard making it impossible to work is different, but not "this guy works, these guys don't" B.S.)

Now if Squirrel wasn't in a union, and the boss did that, it's take it or leave it.

Now Squirrel is working for another contractor - and didn't have to negotiate the pay, or the benefits, or wait for benefits until some predetermined amount of time, or change doctors or medical plans, or reschedule a vacation. Or transfer a 401k, or worry that there's no pension.

Oftentimes, when you're an apprentice or helper, there's a lot of overtime, whether you're union or nonunion. You're cheaper labor. But typically you'll find in the nonunion sector a plethora of apprentices/helpers on a jobsite and only an occasional journeyman/electrician. Especially in states like here in NY where there is no law that dictates ratios. If this is the case for you then you have to ask yourself, "if there's 12 apprentices here and 4 journeymen, where does that put ALL of us apprentices in 5 years?" 

The nonunion employer might convince you they're growing and there will be plenty of work and room for everyone and by then the shop will consist of 16 journeymen... yea right. 

Think pyramid scheme. What the employer is doing is "chewing them up and spitting them out" which basically results in the apprentices all turning out to find they're in competition for jobs that don't exist. 

What Squirrel's employer was doing was flat out wrong, and there was quick resolution because it was a clear violation of the working agreement. The employer wanted to keep Squirrel, probably because of attitude and reliability and productiveness, yet wanted the ability to "bank" him and save on the payroll whenever it was convenient. The employer probably had future work lined up but for whatever reason it wasn't starting as expected, yet expected Squirrel to suffer those consequences.


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