working for the IUOE

tommy1984 · 10-31-2009, 07:46 PM

Thinking about trying to get a job with IOUE local 181 and was wondering from some of you who work for the IOUE if you like your career? Do the pay well? Do they keep you close to home or are you living in a hotel room for weeks at a time away from your family I guess thats all i need to ask right now, thanks

EGS · 10-31-2009, 08:39 PM

Yes, I work for the IUOE, I like it a lot. I started non-union, no way would I go back non-union. Yes they pay well and have great benefits. The retirement alone is awesome. Be ready to earn it, if you get dispatched for a journeymen's job you will be expected to do it well. The company I work for fires 2 or 3 people a week, because they can't do what they said they could. There are times when I have been gone form home for months at a time, sometimes I am home every night just depends. The union is not perfect, but in life what is?

tommy1984 · 11-01-2009, 01:05 PM

EGS.. do you have to accept the jobs that are going to keep you away for weeks or months at a time? and when you do stay away do you pay for your own hotel or is that provided? thanks

EGS · 11-01-2009, 01:51 PM

tommy no you don't have to take the jobs that will keep you away from home. But if you refuse a dispatch twice you get dropped to the bottom of the list. That is how it works in my local, no sure if it is the same with others. When you do stay away you have to pay for your own hotel. Some people have their own campers to stay in when away.

diggerman57 · 11-01-2009, 08:14 PM

Becoming an IUOE member is one of the best decisions I've ever made. Keep in mind though, if you join, you'd be a member of your local not an employee of that local. To my knowledge all the locals work as referral halls. In other words, contractors call for an operator and the local sends out a qualified person for the job. So you work for,and are paid by the contractor. The contracted wage and benefit programs set the standard for the industry, and the training programs are second to none. Don't get me wrong there are pros and cons just like anything else; i.e. politics, brown-nosers, etc. No matter where you go, union or not, you'll get that kind of thing anywhere. As far as the travel, work is work so if you want to earn a paycheck you have to be flexible, but personally I've never had to be away from home for work. I hope this helps a little.

CascadeScaper · 11-01-2009, 11:21 PM

As union member, you work for the contractor who you're dispatched to, not the union. The hall is merely a referral system to help you find work if you can't go out and drum it up yourself. I'm an IUOE apprentice, I did 4 years non-union growing up in the landscaping/light excavation business and this is my 2nd season as a union operator. I love the outfit I'm with and wouldn't trade it for anything else at this point in my life. Outfit I'm with does mainly heavy highway, I like this scope of work and would like to stick with it.

Travel is part of construction. It's not ideal when you have to travel and I've been lucky enough to have been able to stay close to home. I commute 100 miles round trip daily to the project I'm working on right now, just part of the gig. If you've been with an outfit long enough and are considered a "key man", you may be given a hotel room if you're needed to travel a long distance from home. That really depends on the contractor, though, but it seems to be the deal out here.

Joining up is a decision you need to make for yourself, I'm hoping there aren't too many naysayers that jump in here and bash unions as it just isn't called for. There are pros and cons to both union and non-union routes, what works for one may not work another. Weigh your options and make the decision for yourself.

tommy1984 · 11-02-2009, 05:04 PM

thanks for the input. I was wondering if it was a good choice because when i mention it to people around here they say it isent what i think it is and ill never be called out for work because im the new guy and ill starve my kids waiting for work and so forth.. I think ill go talk to them. the closest office to me is in ashland ky about 2 hrs from me.

CascadeScaper · 11-03-2009, 01:25 AM

Work is really crappy right now, chances are you'll burn yourself up waiting on the out of work list right now. My advice is to only join up right now if you were hired by a union outfit and "back door" yourself into the union. Otherwise, joining right now and getting on the out of work list is a losing proposition, work is just so damn slow everywhere. I know good operators that sat all season out here, it's that bad. WA state has things a little better than other areas throughout the country, I believe, and we're still not doing all that spectacular by any means.

Speedpup · 11-03-2009, 04:57 PM

some locals may have seniority rules also

OFF · 11-03-2009, 05:38 PM

I've been a IUOE member since 1980, and without a doubt it was the best move I ever made in my life. As unions go, it's one of the best.

Not only are the wages always at the top of the scale and the quality of jobs always top notch, but above all else my pension plan & benifits have followed me from job to job pretty much my entire working life.
There's a lot of guys out there doing the same work we do that don't have any sort of pension or benifits or do the same work for 1/2 the money

I know unions get a bad rap as a hiding place for lazy & stupid

but being in a union isn't going to change you. If you're a thinker and a good worker, you will always be. They can't take that away from you. As was mentioned, you work for the employer not the union and employers notice who's pulling thier load & who's pullin their wire. Other union members working with you notice also they remember who's good and who's a waste. The cream rises just like in the non-union world. Getting signed up and out on that first job takes a bit of luck, after that it's all up to you.

Buckethead · 11-03-2009, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Speedpup

some locals may have seniority rules also

As far as I know the only one with dispatch based on seniority was Long Island NY, and I am not sure if they're still like that.

OFF · 11-03-2009, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buckethead

As far as I know the only one with dispatch based on seniority was Long Island NY, and I am not sure if they're still like that.

We have no senority either in the hall, dispatch or on the job site.

tommy1984 · 11-03-2009, 09:51 PM

So if i set accepted in there apprentaship program I will attomaticly go on the "on call list" and when my name gets to the top they will call me and ask if i want to work on the project thats up? Then after that project is done my name would go back on the out of work list? about how much does a new comer make per hour? thanks

OFF · 11-03-2009, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tommy1984

So if i set accepted in there apprentaship program I will attomaticly go on the "on call list" and when my name gets to the top they will call me and ask if i want to work on the project thats up? Then after that project is done my name would go back on the out of work list? about how much does a new comer make per hour? thanks

You'd go on a list for apprentices on what type of equipment it is you want to get out on. If there's more than one, you can go on several lists.
When a job comes in that fits the list your on, they start calling at #1 and work thier way down the list until the get someone to take it.

I've gotten out on a job when I was #43 on the list

CascadeScaper · 11-03-2009, 11:31 PM

You aren't just selected in as an apprentice, well, at least that's how it is out here and I'm going to assume that's how it is everywhere else. I went through a hardcore application process, testing and interviewing, then a week at the grounds on the iron. We were watched and notes were taken during the week on the equipment. For my session, 1,200 people applied, I think 600 people tested and interviewed, 100 people spent a week at the grounds and 50 were accepted into the program last year in my group. The 50 selected apprentices then spent 7 weeks training before we were placed on the out of work list.

Once you're in, you'll be on the out of work list. The dispatchers will take note of what equipment you're best at running. They will try to send you to run something you're capable of running. We were able to go directly to work after our initial training for a signatory employer if they had work for us, an intent to hire letter was required for that.

There is no difference working for a union outfit vs. non union as far as employee retention. You work for the contractor, not the union. Once you're dispatched to them, you are working for them and report to them just as you would any other outfit.