I’m an electrical contractor. I worked my way up to owning my own company all the way from a green helper. Started out making minimum wage. By the time I was 31, I had saved money and had enough to open my own company. I moved to a new town and started getting my name out there. It’s 5 years later and I’m still in business. Mostly a one man show, but it’s all mine. I’ve never been in a union. I say all that to say this:
The only 2 experiences I have had with unions have not been positive. I had been laid off any was applying everywhere. It was December and of course no one was hiring. I was on an employment website and ran across an ad for the IBEW. I sent in my resume. A few days later, a guy calls from the union hall and wanted to set up an interview. I didn’t get a good vibe from him, and I felt like he was blowing a bunch of smoke. Anyhow, I went to the interview and he asked me to take a test. Keep In mind that I was a journeyman electrician certified by the state (somehow, this doesn’t mean much in the union). While I was taking my test, my interviewer was in an office with another guy. The door was open and I heard them discussing how stupid and pitiful the electricians in the hall were. I finished up and left. When they called me back, I told them I didn’t need a union to help me find or keep a job. I was already working for a non union shop. After saying my piece, I thought that was the end of it, but these guys were like Buckmasters. They kept calling.
The next year, I was a traveling project manager. We had several smaller lighting projects going on in the Illinois and Indiana. The sub in Indiana was a non union guy and a pleasure to work with. The one in Illinois was just the opposite. I pulled up on the job and asked the lead electrician where I could help (I was there to manage the project and didn’t have to provide any labor). He asked to see my union card, and got pissy when I told him that that wasn’t necessary as it was my job he was working on. I began unboxing and putting fixtures together to help his guys. They kept asking me what my hurry was. The lead man confronted me several more times and after lunch I hit my breaking point. He was working on retrofitting a light pole. There was a piece of steel plate keeping him from getting his hand inside of the pole to mount the new fixture.
He said he didn’t know what he should do. I told him to cut it off with a grinder. His response was that someone from his shop would have to tell him what to do. I called the company owner and reiterated to him that this was my job and my company had hired them. If they did not want to complete the job the way I requested, we could certainly find another contractor who was willing to work with me. Finally, the owner agreed and he sent me a new crew the next day. These guys gave me no crap.
