New job

[rob8210]

Well fellas, I had to change jobs recently, and I have to admit I wish I didn't have to. The gf for the new place came from transmission, we work live distribution everyday . I went on as a foreman, took on a 64 pole job , rebuilding a small area in a bigger city. In less than a month we had all the poles in about 15 primary transfers done and about half of the first street framed to string new secondaries, with 6 guys an rbd and a double bucket. The gf started hassling me cause he said it was too slow, I won't be pushed nor will I try to rush my crew, that's when problems happen.

Well the gf likes to through his weight around and busted me back to sub, that really hurt my feelings, ha ha.

This past week I was working with a 26 year old foreman , with 10 years on and a licensed mechanic to boot! ( doesn't add up to me) Imagine 4 bucket trucks spread out over 10 spans with a groundman operator and foreman on the ground. Does that sound like trouble waiting to happen to you?

[TRAMPLINEMAN]

That sounds like two more buckets and two more ground helpers than we would have. Seems like nowadays a 26 year old foreman is a little too old to be a foreman.

[rob8210]

I hear ya Tramplineman! It seems that all these companies want is young guys with no experience running crews, might just as well hire all ' yes men'. The trouble with this outfit is almost all of the men are quite young, with less than 10 years on. I am a rarity at this place. Really I am quite concerned about one of these guys getting hurt bad, just trying to figure a way to bring about some good changes to make it a good place to work, any ideas how to go about making changes would be really appreciated.

[US & CA Tramp]

About all you can do is try to teach if they are open to listening, and CYA. Hell my grandson just starting in the trade has more respect for older lineman than what it sounds like this outfit has, but then I have had to beat it into him. There is a lot to be said for starting out as a grunt rather than going to an apprentice school, and graduating knowing it all.

[Orgnizdlbr]

About all you can do is try to teach if they are open to listening, and CYA. Hell my grandson just starting in the trade has more respect for older lineman than what it sounds like this outfit has, but then I have had to beat it into him. There is a lot to be said for starting out as a grunt rather than going to an apprentice school, and graduating knowing it all.


+1..........!

[rob8210]

Hey US & CA Tramp, your right on! So far most of the young fellas are quite eager and willing to learn. Of the young foreman, one is completely full of himself and the other isn't so bad just lacks experience. It's the gf that's a total tool, came from transmission and thinks he knows how to run distribution. How's your grandson doing?

[US & CA Tramp]

Hey US & CA Tramp, your right on! So far most of the young fellas are quite eager and willing to learn. Of the young foreman, one is completely full of himself and the other isn't so bad just lacks experience. It's the gf that's a total tool, came from transmission and thinks he knows how to run distribution. How's your grandson doing?

The grandson just got his DZ license and Finnerty says he will probably get him out with KLine. I have got the kid tooled up and have been trying to drill some sense into him. The biggest thing I have been trying to drill into him is "LISTEN" to his Lineman, and when they call him different names take it as they like him. If they don't like him they won't say any thing to him. He is close enough to me that I can keep him on the right track.

[rob8210]

Yeah bud that's exactly how K-line is , all the trade up here for that matter. Sounds like I would like working with your grandson, a little respect and I will teach ! As for K-line I have worked there a couple of times , and the majority of the fellas are decent, the foreman are pretty good too!

[rob8210]

Well the new job has turned in to a not so fun job. A couple of weeks ago, I got demoted from subforeman to foreman , I didn't even to bother to ask why. So I went back to wearing my orange helmet that I have worn for 20 odd years. The gf had a hissy fit , said I had to wear a yellow one, and did provide me with one. Dang thing doesn't fit very well. Then a week later he wants to give me a verbal warning , on paper at quitting time on Thursday afternoon( last day of the week) , I told him that we will deal with this on company time at a later date with a union rep present. That later date was yesterday morning , first thing. He had passed it to the HR lady , she came in early, presented it to me , read it and sign it. I read it but refused to sign it. The HR lady says well I guess you cat work. The gf has a fit and suspends me for a week . I have been wearing the company issued helmet the whole time ( still doesn't fit) and dealing with the safety department the trying to get one that does fit. The union is involved right now, I will let you fellas know how it plays out.

I am am putting this on to warn you fellas about gf's like this, he is a bit younger, claims to have been in the trade 20 years , 10 years managing. He came from transmission. We do live distribution work mostly 27.6kv.

I find ins this guy to be very petty and he is doing his best to control everyone around him. He got quite mad at me when I was foreman because I worked my job as I saw fit , not his way. He sure hates it when I say , I have been doing live work for 30 years. He hates it even more when I tell him I am not wasting my breath arguing with him and walk away!

[US & CA Tramp]

Hang in there. If the job is going that way, and the GF wants to have his thumb on every one like that then it is not only a shitty place to work the GF makes it unsafe. The best jobs and the most work completed is when ALL crew members participate instead of just the GF pulling the strings like you are all a bunch of puppets. That GF will get his reputation, and it is best to run not walk away from his jobs.

[rob8210]

Yep , just waiting for something else to go to.

[rob8210]

The latest. I talked to the union rep on Wednesday morning, he said I was supposed to get a call that day to go back to work. That call never came. These kind of game is why I quit working for public utilities. There is always some jerk thinking he is superior to everybody else. Everyone at the contractors seemed to try to work together and mostly got along, until now. Of course I don't help much when I have a habit of speaking the truth, sometimes it hurts, and it is necessary. This fella has been trying to find a way to pin me since the first time I reminded him about distribution and transmission work being 2 different animals. Probably didn't help when he was itching for an argument I told him I wouldn't waste my breath arguing with him. I was suspended for a week, I will go back Monday and play the game again, until another job comes up.

[Orgnizdlbr]

Good luck Rob

[rob8210]

Thanks Labor!

[rob8210]

Well I went back to work on Monday, I have yet to see the boss. The civil department grabbed me to standby with them while they do some work around submersible vaults. I got my pay stub today and all I got paid was show up time for Monday. Tomorrow I will be filing a grievance with the union.

[Orgnizdlbr]

Hang in there brother. The GF will get his in due time. Just curious, what are your co-workers doing while this is going on? If you were where I'm from, the men would have made up your weeks wages out of our pockets and the GF would have a sore asshole!

[Old Line Dog]

I think I do, but I really,... probably don't understand, how shit like this goes on in union.

Good luck Rob.

[stiffneck]

Rob8210,
You and I don't have much in common, including the line of electrical work we do. However, This I can tell you with great experience. Once you serve your first suspension, the rest come easy. St. Louis City has a 75-100 year old Civil Service System under which we work. It's similar to a late 19th & early 20th century Army-Navy military code of conduct. Translation; 95% of the time the boss gets his way. The remaining 5% is HOUSE RULES! After my 3rd suspension, I hired a prominent St. Louis/Missouri/Illinois area attorney, for $$$$ dollars,(back in 2001). He sent out 4 subpoenas which generated 3 phone calls. At that point, downtown capitulated and I got my 3 days back, for that suspension. I was upset that we didn't have the hearing. I wanted my attorney to fry those involved. However, downtown looked at my case and knew right away, to drop it like it's hot. More importantly, 95% of the problems with that supervisor ended that day. Prior to that, downtown refused to grant me an appeal, even though HOUSE RULES say you get one, no exceptions. I never did anything wrong, except not leaving St. Louis. Now that I've got 23+ years in, I'll be here even if the ship goes down (bankruptcy). I've gone from bottom pay electrician, to top pay electrician, to top pay lead electrician, down to meduim pay electrician, to top pay electrician, to top pay lead electrician... again ;) I've been passed over for supervisor job once and foremans' job 4 times now. My day starts like this; "Chris, how does this work?" "Chris, where is this fed from?" "Chris, can you show them what to do?" "Chris, can you assist the contractors doing our work?" "Chris, will you supervise this job?" "Chris, will you just take care of it?" "Chris, do you remember what it was labeled before?" And my all time favorite; "What should I tell them?" Who is "them"? "Them" is supervisor and foremans' bosses. I've had fun with that one ;P
Chris Hanson

[rob8210]

Well fellas I have news. I just got word from the union, I will receive my pay for the weeks suspension, plus the company admitted they did the discipline all wrong.

[Orgnizdlbr]

Well fellas I have news. I just got word from the union, I will receive my pay for the weeks suspension, plus the company admitted they did the discipline all wrong.

Good news Rob!

[rob8210]

Looks like I spoke to soon. I should have gotten my money from the week off by now , its back in the union's hand again. Meantime I just show up for work and do whatever job I am assigned to do, just like I have since I started in line work in 1986.

[rob8210]

The latest. I did speak to soon. 2 paycheques have come but no settlement. I talked to the union yesterday and now we are filing a formal grievance. The part that frustrates me most is when I hired on they assured me that the company was cleaning up the way it operates and planning on becoming a desirable place to work. Instead of hiring quality lineman that know and can do quality work safely, they have been hiring the fellas no other contractor wants.

Since I hired on they laid off one older fella , just because he failed a hold off course. They had hired another fella "because he lied to me", when the truth was the gf didn't ask the right questions at the interview.

I have personally witnessed 2 dangerous work practices by the same crew and heard about 2 more.

I just heard about a fella getting fired for cheating on the rules with the foreman's knowledge. He got caught by a third party inspector. In my mind the foreman wasn't doing his job , that would be the same foreman as above.

Great at place to work! NOT.

i can't wait for after Christmas when things open up and other companies start hiring again.

[Orgnizdlbr]

Stay safe and move on when you can!

[rob8210]

Thank Labor, that is my plan . At least for now I am working on a good crew with a good knowledgeable foreman. Now if the gf would just leave me alone , I would wait him out , just to get the last laugh. The owner has made it know he is looking to replace him.