came up through the contactors thinking about going to the untilities

[alanbt]

came up though the union in mass, have a chance to get a job with national grid. any pros or cons would be welcomed

[loodvig]

Who ya working for now? Hawkeye?

[alanbt]

yup, getting a little tired of the constant payroll problems. made such a stink about they got me a brand new bucket

[loodvig]

So how did your interview go?

[42linehand]

I think that would have to be your choice, but I can tell you that alot of our guys who are going to the Power Company are ending up coming back. Once you go their you cant just drag up for whatever reason you want. I love the fact that if you dont want to work with someone or if you want to work somewhere else you just leave. You cant do that there. You might get paid vacation, holidays, sick time but you dont know what else you can get. Talk to people who left contracting and went to the power company. My opinion is stay in contracting. If you are having problems with Hawkeye just drag up and sign the books. Good Luck

[alanbt]

spent about 1.5 hr talking to paul and alanzo. kept asking the same questions just rewording them. paul says he'll call within a week and let me know if he recomends me after he has a meeting with hr. he kept making apoint to tell me about shift work, alt troublework and junor man overtime.

[dungnfam]

I think National Grid is a good company to work for. Good benefits, probably not as good as in the past but better than 95% of any other company in any industry - 3 weeks vacation to start (at least non-union gets 3 which is a new policy started this year, union only two weeks to start), 12 holidays, yearly bonus, plenty of overtime etc, etc. Plus you'll be working close to home and not travelling around the country for some of your work. Where will you be working out of?

[alanbt]

triing to get on in the merrimac valley district. they told me it would take about a wek to let me knwo if there interested.

[alanbt]

they called last night going to set up the casttesting for me

[loodvig]

I've heard the tests are hard. Who is alanzo?

[alanbt]

i was told he was involved with system ops, not sure. they said the test hard some reading comprehession and algebra

[dungnfam]

The test shouldn't be hard. It's basic math. Expect this entire process to take a long time. If you do get the job, don't expect to start before Labor Day at the earliest. Be patient. It will be worth it.

[Viperexaf]

isn't national grid the same company topgroove and a few others on here work for?

[topgroove]

yep. it is a good company to work for. great pay and we are very committed to safety.

[Stinger]

Allan has worked for me as an apprentice. Let me tell you brothers out there who work for the grid, if they hire him I consider it our loss, your gain. He is a top notch hand, very safety minded, knows his job, not afraid to ask questions and has very high confidence in his work ability. He is a team player, dependable, loyal to who he works for. There we some jobs that he did for me that I had more confidence in him than the JL he was working for. Most of the time he worked with top notch JL's who taught him the right way of doing things. If he goes to the Grid and decides to leave, I will take him back on my crew in heartbeat. Not only do I consider him as union brother, but also a good true friend.

[woody]

love the last post and hope it's not the last of it's kind. we don't want to lose good hands...but we always support them in their endeavors! came up const. going to a utility... support a good union brother and hand always! woody

[Goathead]

I worked as a contractor for eighteen years out of 1249,then went to RG@E,have been there eight years now.I left the union because I wanted to settle down.I miss the variaty of work and the freedom of the union,with the util ity you have no senority,but you might have more security?

[loodvig]

Any more updates Alan?

[alanbt]

went to westboro today and took the cast exams. didnt seem too bad. i did all the practice ones online. there was a tranmission lineman there who had taken the test a couple of times and hadnt passed it and he was rather upset. they told me that i should get my scores by wednesday so i should hear from paul around then to let me know if we are going to go forward and set up more testing.

[NJlineman55]

I sure you passed since it seems you are a good lineman. As far as the transmission lineman goes, well I can see why he hasn't passed it. They are trained from the neck down!!

[Outlaw Lineman]

I sure you passed since it seems you are a good lineman. As far as the transmission lineman goes, well I can see why he hasn't passed it. They are trained from the neck down!!
I bet to differ. As a transmission lineman myself I have gone through the SAME apprenticeship as a distibution lineman plus more. Bare Hand, Helicopter work (not just setting poles & stinging wire) more rigging than most dist. (only) linemen. To paint Transmission Linemen with such a broad brush only shows you IGNORANCE and lack of characture. A true journeyman (as I have said before) is proficient in Distribution, Transmission, Hot, Dead as well as plastic underground. Most will agree lead is a special breed of cat.

[NJlineman55]

I agree a true lineman is skilled in all aspects of linework, but there are lineman that have only done transmission work.

[Patriot]

Haven't seen a contractor hand worth a shit yet! Except in thier own mind!

[Outlaw Lineman]

Ya know, if you spend 5 years on a Transmission Crew...then come to Distribution...you're gonna be lackin, and gonna have to take a few months or more... to "get in the groove". Same goes for a Distribution puke goin over to those 25 lb hoists on Transmission!

We're all Linemen in the trade, and if we're worth a shit...we can make the "transition" if and when it's necessary.

Distribution ain't "better" than Transmission, or visa versa. There's ONE "Broad Brush". We're all Power Linemen.

And anyone that tells me he is a Journeyman in Transmission, Distribution AND Underground.....better be lookin at his 75 Birthday. Cause That's bullshit.

Don't come to a Transmission Crew, from workin 5 years on a Distribution hot crew...and expect any Big respect.

It's a Different game. The "Line Game" has Different Teams of Journeymen.
Sorta like Football and Baseball ya know.
Gimme a break Swamp... you don't think a young lineman can be proficient in Transmission, Distribution, and Underground? I'm calling BULLSHIT on that. A whole lot of us can go from working hot distribution one day to hot transmission the next and do both with sticks quite well. Underground ain't that hard (plastic) might take a guy a day or two to get back in the swing of things. Never been a fan of "dirt linework" myself but I can do it and do it well.

[BigClive]

In my mind the very best lineman can do ALL aspects of distribution and transmission whether it be above or below ground. Why stop there though... There's linemen like Squizzy who can take the power right into and throughout a building as well.

I was browsing through some IBEW journals that an American friend sent me, and I did see one element of transmission work that I thought was getting too dangerous. I know that barehand work is safe and the use of a helicopter in association with it is common, but in IBEW journal January/February 2006 it shows a line worker sitting on a platform that baely looks like it protrudes about 30 inches from the side of the helicopter. The closeness of the helicopter and it's blades to the wires is disturbing. It doesn't seem to leave much room for unexpected air turbulence.

[loodvig]

Haven't seen a contractor hand worth a shit yet! Except in thier own mind!
Then you got blinders on my friend!

[BigClive]

I was browsing through some IBEW journals that an American friend sent me, and I did see one element of transmission work that I thought was getting too dangerous. I know that barehand work is safe and the use of a helicopter in association with it is common, but in IBEW journal January/February 2006 it shows a line worker sitting on a platform that baely looks like it protrudes about 30 inches from the side of the helicopter. The closeness of the helicopter and it's blades to the wires is disturbing. It doesn't seem to leave much room for unexpected air turbulence.

And just to make a point about helicopter work not being without it's hazards...

http://www.break.com/index/helicopter_crashes_during_drop_off2.html

Hmm, in fact here are the search results for helicopter on that site.

http://my.break.com/Media/Search.aspx?SearchString=helicopter&SearchType=Main&SEARCH1.x=0&SEARCH1.y=0

[alanbt]

just heard back on my cast exam. they said i passed and will try to get everything else set up so we can keep this ball rolling

[loodvig]

just heard back on my cast exam. they said i passed and will try to get everything else set up so we can keep this ball rolling

Well good for you. Just wait untill you see the crap you have to go through before you can go to work. Hope you like watching films!

[billfoster67]

I am a construction lineman. Worked for Edison and working temp at a little utility. First the other lineman, have their one way of doing things. Then there are a lot of safety rules that prevent even super idiots from hurting themselves. Then you will have a whole buch of engineers that are in charge of you who don't know what a tie wire is, but they put together great powerpoint presentations. REAs and utilities at one point were run by lineman from the top down. So they knew what union was, knew what linework is... now its been lost. You are going to go crazy...unless you have a good GF and foreman to protect you from the corporate stupidity. I did at Edison.

To plug in a meter you will probably have in your safety manual to put on a hardhat with safety shield, secondary glaves and a nomex shirt or suit.

LOts of luck

[billfoster67]

Par had a helicopter pilot with 9 mos. experience and uderrated helicopter for the wind conditions. slammed Jim against the tower broke his leg and back. the man unsnapped -the copter went down- canopy buried. Jim Scott descended with a broken back and leg rescued the pilot. Has a picture of them holding eachother up after.

Went to court with Par, with a million lawyers and his one lawyer. The jury awarded him 3.5 million, when in CA they have a restriction of only allowing 3 mill.

Jim S. Jr. should is a legend!!!!

[LostArt]

Well good for you. Just wait untill you see the crap you have to go through before you can go to work. Hope you like watching films!

LOL! Hehehe............those I know about Looooo! :D

Alan, if I may? I'm not as........experienced as the other guys here (I'm not at all---but I listen), but let me just give you a quick run down, okay?

1. Prepare for the flack, you are use to worse.

2. If you haven't learned the "politically correct" way in which to express yourself or say it, LEARN IT NOW......you will need it. (This is why Swamp can't work for them!)

3. Your former contracting foreman was your nightmare. Now you are living a dream.



Of course I had more Alan! But do you think I would print it??? I think this is enough without getting railroaded! However, even I am not immuned! :D

[alanbt]

finished all my practical testing and passed. said that i should recieve an offer letter in the mail withinh the next couple of weeks. told me ill will be work wed thru sat in merrimac valley