Union Lineman Terms

[Froths]

Can somebody please explain to me what "Laying in the weeds" to go to work instead of getting called off the books means. Thanks.

[wudwoker51]

Can somebody please explain to me what "Laying in the weeds" to go to work instead of getting called off the books means. Thanks.
I'll take a shot at this "lineman slang." I may be wrong but I do believe that this term means someone who is actually laid-off but does not file for unemployment and just waits for the employer to call him back to work instead of signing on the out of work list and waiting for a call. Or maybe a company hand that just waits for the contractor to bring him into another local under portability.

[Highplains Drifter]

I think it is more of a contractor term, a true Union lineman does not lay in the weeds.

[Edge]

I'll take a shot at this "lineman slang." I may be wrong but I do believe that this term means someone who is actually laid-off but does not file for unemployment and just waits for the employer to call him back to work instead of signing on the out of work list and waiting for a call. Or maybe a company hand that just waits for the contractor to bring him into another local under portability.

Thats exactly it... and the reason he didn't go for unemp and just waits is because he IS a company hand... or a fuggin jumper in a R2W state

Like Drifter said...

"a true Union lineman does not lay in the weeds"

for what it's worth...

Edge

[glover]

never heard that expression, in 27 yrs as a union lineman..I would like to know the meaning of it. Thanks............

[Boomer gone soft]

HD nailed it!

What!? No swamp posts on Union terms?:rolleyes:

[lineman2010]

Never heard of the term till I came out to cali to work. I know a contractor that does it a kot with guys, but it is the best contractor I have ever worked for. Hope work picks up son so I can go back on the books and try and get back on with them.

[lineman2010]

It would be noted that every contract is different in how long you can be not working and stall go back to work with out being cleared off the books. Out here in cali you can sit at home for one month before you are supposed to go back on the books.

[Froths]

So it means if a contractor is finishing or about to finish a job. Instead of being laid off and going back to the hall 2 sign the books your GF,superintendent,ect would give you the option of just waiting at home or work at a side job you may have until they need a hand for another job which they would call you direct instead of the union?

[wudwoker51]

As far as I know, just took a stab at it. Like other Brothers really had not heard the term before.

[Highplains Drifter]

So it means if a contractor is finishing or about to finish a job. Instead of being laid off and going back to the hall 2 sign the books your GF,superintendent,ect would give you the option of just waiting at home or work at a side job you may have until they need a hand for another job which they would call you direct instead of the union?


It means you are not a good enough hand to get called out by name so you want to back door the books and every one ahead of you for your benifit. In all actuality it is being very wormy!

[electric squirrel]

It's one thing to take a couple days off while the grunts move trucks to a new show up,,but to hide out at home for 3 weeks cuz your a book 4 hand and won't ever get off the books is like Drifter says wormy,,,you should be kicked in the nuts and any GF that ask you to do it should be too,,,,,,

[scratchpad]

It really benefits the contractor to have you lay in the weeds. They dont have to do the paperwork, give rubber goods, shirts, pants etc and drug testing for new hire. ($) They dont have to worry about if the new hire will work out. They do it all the time when work gets slow or in between jobs.
I say fu(k the contractor. im not much of a company man.
Its really the job scared cats or guys that are in over their head in payments that do lay in the weeds for lengthy periods. You're basically a whore for the company and guess what they dispose of you when they dont end up getting the job(s) that they told you they were about to start. (you know, the ones that were in the same area as your home and you held on with hope) By that time you fu(ked yourself out of unemployment for a month and now your at the bottom of the book. And you're fu(kin your brothers out of work too. slimy contractors and slimy hands. as apes we absolutely do not have to lay in the weeds no matter what the contractor tells you.

[Froths]

Ok everybody thanks alot for clearing that up for me! I actually thought it meant going down to the hall in the mornings before they start dispatching open jobs, signing a list with you classification and waiting to see if you could get one of the open jobs instead of being called off the books.

Also how hard is it or is it possible for a groundman with a crane cert and tiny bit of experience with other equipment(loaders,forklifts,ect) to change classifications to an equipment operator to be able to sign both books?

[climbsomemore]

It means you are not a good enough hand to get called out by name so you want to back door the books and every one ahead of you for your benifit. In all actuality it is being very wormy!

Amen. take your layoff and wait it out (on the books) like a man.

Most locals will over look *A* transfer, maybe 2, if times are good. But if your not being sent back to the hall after a job *closes* down you know who you are.

If you spend a little time in a inside local working for a contractor who runs service work in addition to bid construction projects... you will get to know what a "shop cat " is. Line contractors who get long term jobs with Muni's, etc have the same problem some times. When a guy hangs around for 5, 8, 10 years or more with the same shop - sometimes they get some warped priorities....