# Accepted into Local 3 - pending knee surgery - what to do!



## OaTiS (Aug 26, 2009)

I got accepted into local 3 took my orientation at empire college and today went to take my physical, now today I speak my doctor to get my results for a check up to knee surgery I had in the past about 2 years ago, turns out I have a tear in my meniscus, this in fact is elective surgery so should tell the union or just not have the surgery and try to last as long as possible before surgery is unavoidable.Iveb been trying forever to get into local 3 and now when I finally make it, this has to happen ahhhhh! Any advice past experiences would be greatly apreciated thank you


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## al13nw4r3LC76 (Apr 6, 2009)

Can you still carry heavy things/twist around ladders etc, without your knee causing you extraordinary pain?


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## OaTiS (Aug 26, 2009)

yea its not giving me any issues right now i'd say once every 3 - 4 months it swells up for a few days and its only painful then


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## al13nw4r3LC76 (Apr 6, 2009)

I would say start working as soon as possible then. You have been trying for a long time to get in, go for it brother!


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## OaTiS (Aug 26, 2009)

thanks for the encouragement :thumbsup:


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## al13nw4r3LC76 (Apr 6, 2009)

Your welcome. So the worst case scenario you end up having to take a little time off for surgery? You may be able to get put on light duty if that happened.


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## Buck Parrish (May 7, 2009)

Take IBprofin it reduces swelling. Swelling causes the pain.
But do get it fixed correctly Better hurry before the health bill gets passed by the senate. No more elective surgerys.
Then you will have to work at the 7-11


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## sopranocaponyc (Nov 24, 2008)

When did u get your letter saying you got in. Did it say anything about starting work. The way it works is you will start school in sept. But not work for 6 months. If you are starting work right away i would do my best to work, don't pass this up. I'm still waiting to hear how i did from My interview in July!


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## OaTiS (Aug 26, 2009)

I didn't know it took that long to get to work my first day of class would be sept 9th so if from that day I have 6 months then I could just get the surgery asap and I believe the complete rehab is 2 - 3 months, so as long as I attend class during this time I shouldn't have any issues


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## sopranocaponyc (Nov 24, 2008)

OaTiS said:


> I didn't know it took that long to get to work my first day of class would be sept 9th so if from that day I have 6 months then I could just get the surgery asap and I believe the complete rehab is 2 - 3 months, so as long as I attend class during this time I shouldn't have any issues


 
This is from personal experience, i got into the local in fall 02, I started school Jan 03......and cause of hardship(its worse now so many guys out) didn't start work till June 03. Now I'm trying to get back in hoping i get a 2nd chance even if i have to wait etc..did u ever get a rank as how well u did etc. i took test may, interview in July still waiting. If you haven't gotten a letter to start work just yet u will have some time.


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## OaTiS (Aug 26, 2009)

I took the test and interview same time as you did, I never got a letter telling me how I did on the test or interview. What I did get was a letter telling me to call to get an appointment for my physical which I took on wednsday and also a letter from empire state college congratulating me on becoming a registered apprentice for the ibew local 3 and when my orientation was. The first day of classes is sept 9th. So it seems like I actually have enough time to get my knee fixed quickly, I called the union yesterday and I asked how long per avg do u start working after you start school and the lady told me "you'll be notified and if u need more time you will be given that also"
And 1 more question how physically demanding is the union trade school classes


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## alloutmotor (Aug 19, 2009)

OaTiS said:


> I took the test and interview same time as you did, I never got a letter telling me how I did on the test or interview. What I did get was a letter telling me to call to get an appointment for my physical which I took on wednsday and also a letter from empire state college congratulating me on becoming a registered apprentice for the ibew local 3 and when my orientation was. The first day of classes is sept 9th. So it seems like I actually have enough time to get my knee fixed quickly, I called the union yesterday and I asked how long per avg do u start working after you start school and the lady told me "you'll be notified and if u need more time you will be given that also"
> And 1 more question how physically demanding is the union trade school classes


is it me or did the lady u speak to sound like she has an attitude problem? :laughing:


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## al13nw4r3LC76 (Apr 6, 2009)

I am 3rd year and the actual class portion is not that physically demanding. We do some conduit bending but nothing too wild.


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## alloutmotor (Aug 19, 2009)

al13nw4r3LC76 said:


> I am 3rd year and the actual class portion is not that physically demanding. We do some conduit bending but nothing too wild.


since your 3 years in do you think its worth me sticking around?


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## OaTiS (Aug 26, 2009)

alloutmotor said:


> is it me or did the lady u speak to sound like she has an attitude problem? :laughing:


Yea she definately did sound like she had an attitude problem, it sounded like I was bothering her or keeping her from more important things..

A few guys in my class already got there working ticket and started work which I think was crazy fast since they started working before we had our first day of school, I didn't get mine yet and neither did a few other people. Do we now have that avg 6 month wait or should I be expecting it at any moment because I still didn't get my knee fixed but it was approved by workers comp so now I'm just pending a date to get it done...


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## al13nw4r3LC76 (Apr 6, 2009)

alloutmotor said:


> since your 3 years in do you think its worth me sticking around?


Yes. Great career choice. It's not just a job, it's a career.


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## sopranocaponyc (Nov 24, 2008)

OaTiS said:


> Yea she definately did sound like she had an attitude problem, it sounded like I was bothering her or keeping her from more important things..
> 
> A few guys in my class already got there working ticket and started work which I think was crazy fast since they started working before we had our first day of school, I didn't get mine yet and neither did a few other people. Do we now have that avg 6 month wait or should I be expecting it at any moment because I still didn't get my knee fixed but it was approved by workers comp so now I'm just pending a date to get it done...


 
this odd starting work so soon, must be a new thing. i would do it ASAP...So when u start work and it probally won't be till Jan you will be good to go!


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## signguy (Jun 8, 2010)

Depends on severity..if it catches in the joint,no good!! If it is swelling and debris in the knee,suck it up for a while.I had surgery 18 years ago,was off for 1 1/2 weeks.I'm betting procedure now may be arthroscopic.......do it on Fri.,be back to work Monday.By all means,start if you can.Local 3 is a GREAT Local.......good luck!!


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## Widestance_Politics (Jun 2, 2010)

alloutmotor said:


> is it me or did the lady u speak to sound like she has an attitude problem? :laughing:


LOL....wait till you get paired up with a JW....


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## mikeh32 (Feb 16, 2009)

I was in the same situation. I broke my leg. when i say break i mean 14 screws and a plate and will need sugery again. they have to cut out the bone and replace it with a rod. i chose to take the union apprenticeship over the surgery. i sat and talked to the dr. to make sure that my choice would not effect me in a bad way. i bear with the pain, and just go on and do my job. hell, my formen didnt even know about it, until i said something. I will wait out the 4 years till i finish my apprenticeship, then have the surgery. 

I reccomend you talk to your dr. and make sure that it wont get worse, or beyond repair. you can always try again, but you cant get a second knee


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

Buck Parrish said:


> Take IBprofin it reduces swelling. Swelling causes the pain.
> But do get it fixed correctly Better hurry before the health bill gets passed by the senate. No more elective surgerys.
> Then you will have to work at the 7-11


I read the healthcare bill and must have missed that part. Can you provide a reference, or is this a Glenn Beck thing?


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## william1978 (Sep 21, 2008)

Go to the apprenticeship classes if you can handle the pain. I wouldn't have it operated on till I couldn't handle the pain any more. I would not turn down a chance to get in to Local 3.


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## miller_elex (Jan 25, 2008)

Better not spill your secret.

Once the brotherhood starts taking on cripples, its over.

Hard enough to compete when your cost is 40% more per man hour, can't do that with cripples.

Maybe it's god's sign to find another line of work. Go with the flow. Seriously, I live by that sh1t. You're going to be kneeling, squatting, and climbing alot, think about your pain threshold.


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## JacksonburgFarmer (Jul 5, 2008)

Man, get yourself fixed up and healed up now! If you ignore this, you very well end up very messed up later, and not be able to hardly work. Tell the hall what is going on, and they should be understanding. If you were good enough to get in, they can wait on you to be healed up! Besides, with work slow, they probobaly wont mind you being down for a little (less guys to put to work=less burden)


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## OaTiS (Aug 26, 2009)

I haven't signed into this forum since I posted this back in 2009, just to update I never got my knee surgery it wasnt a torn meniscus it's a torn ACL and I've been working without it since then. I had my A card for about 3 years now and I'm a proud local 3 union member. I guess I'll look into surgery if I end up getting layed off. Crazy how time flies by. I don't have any limitations on what I'm capable of doing, just no crazy juking. Once every 6 months to a year my knee might come out of place but I'm able to manually reposition it and keep it moving.


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## joebanana (Dec 21, 2010)

Just wait till you turn out, you'll have plenty of time to have the surgery, and recover.
Is it me, or is the CW/CE program putting JW's out of work? Last project I was on had 5 apprentices 2 CW/CE's, 1 foreman and 1 JW, me.


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## OaTiS (Aug 26, 2009)

I turned out 3 years ago and have been pretty lucky so far. Furlough is actually cancelled this year because we have less then 10% on the bench. I'm guessing that ce/cw Is what we have here as RE/RW. I think Its going to slowly get rid of the A division. When the union asked us to vote on bringing them in, they said they could only work on buildings under 20 stories and could only pull bx. I'm working on a 77 story residential tower and we have more RE/RW then actual apprentices including M helpers. The last residential tower that my shop built they ended up moving all the A guys out and finishing the job with RWs. They're allowed to do all types of work apparently, including service. That wasn't what we voted on but they're treated like Kings and are pampered while the A guys are treated like ****. My job had a stop order the week of Thanksgiving last year. All A guys were sent home but the RWs can't miss work so they all got transferred while we sat home for a week. It's getting out of hand!


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## joebanana (Dec 21, 2010)

OaTiS said:


> I turned out 3 years ago and have been pretty lucky so far. Furlough is actually cancelled this year because we have less then 10% on the bench. I'm guessing that ce/cw Is what we have here as RE/RW. I think Its going to slowly get rid of the A division. When the union asked us to vote on bringing them in, they said they could only work on buildings under 20 stories and could only pull bx. I'm working on a 77 story residential tower and we have more RE/RW then actual apprentices including M helpers. The last residential tower that my shop built they ended up moving all the A guys out and finishing the job with RWs. They're allowed to do all types of work apparently, including service. That wasn't what we voted on but they're treated like Kings and are pampered while the A guys are treated like ****. My job had a stop order the week of Thanksgiving last year. All A guys were sent home but the RWs can't miss work so they all got transferred while we sat home for a week. It's getting out of hand!


 I'm guessing "RW/RE" stands for Residential wireman/electrician? Out here it's Construction wireman/electrician. Only they're not allowed to do any wiring, makeup, just grunt work like conduit and wire pulls

Project completions are done with apprentices, and CW/CE's, but JW's (usually 2) have to go back for power ups, and troubleshooting before final. 

There used to be a ratio of apprentices to JW's, but, not any more, apprentices are the "new" JW's, and CW/CE's are the "new" apprentices.
The "old" JW's are just too costly, and foremen are more about skimping on labor and material costs to maximize their "bonuses".


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