Local 370 in Spokane, Washington. They charged me 4,000$ for the safety and orientation program. I was promised to go right to work, I moved across the country to be in this program. Turned out to be complete BS. A month and a half after the class and still not even close to going to work. Work is suddenly slow this year, coincidentally they brought in the biggest class ever, because they needed the extra money to fund the training site. I paid 4 grand for a first aid card and some CAT keys. I already found another job, non union, in a different trade so I have no problem letting my voice be heard about this place. I worked in the IBEW before and loved it, never understood why the union got the hate it did, now I understand. These guys at 370 are lying, scamming crooks.
Not trying to be mean here, but something about your story sounds peculiar. First you were in the Maryland/DC area, and then you moved 2400 miles to the other Washington. Where, just by coincidence, they just happened to be taking in the biggest class of apprentices ever, just as you arrived. Wow, that's some miraculous timing! And I never heard of any local charging tuition, when you first get in you are standing on the work of the generations before you, and you repay that by paying for the younger people who will come up after you.
You sound offended. Aren't you that guy that called "bullish!t" in my other thread and then I even private message you a picture of my contract? I know it must be hard or you to understand, so ill explain it to you again. Feel free to read as many times as possible if you want. I was living/working in MD. My wife was born and raised out here, she got pregnant so we decided it was time to move. I started looking for jobs. I checked into a ton of different opportunities. The IUOE happened to have a new apprenticeship class starting in 2 months. I applied, flew out there for an interview, got a letter of acceptance a couple weeks later. I put in my 2 weeks with the IBEW and moved. So you see, I didn't "coincidentally" just up and move with no plans. I moved because i got accepted. Are you still with me? Go ahead and take a break if you want. So I got told I'd be working right after the class. Other students got told they'd be working right after the class. Nobody is working. Work is slow. I posted on here about the tuition charge and everyone called bullish!t for some reason. Some guy, I think it might've even been you, said there's no way, he would personally file a grievance for me if that was the case. I messages him a picture of my contract and never heard back. It seemed weird to me that nobody else has heard of a tuition fee, work is slow so the training site isnt getting a lot of funds, and they take in a huge class. Its not hard to see through this kind of thing. Shady stuff on their part. Then on top of that they know people are maming huge changes to get into this class with promises of work during the interview, but halfway through the class its suddenly "if you get hired this year, etc". Hmmmm what a coincidence. There's a ton more instances of lies and empty promises these people have told out entire class but I'm going to save that for when I file my grievance. Thanks for your helpful response, bucket head. Let me know if there's anything you need help understanding. Remember, top to bottom, left to right. You'll be fine
I'm not offended,I am not what you would call a sensitive type of guy. It's just something sounds off. if I am wrong I will apologize. You have to understand something, if I had a $20 for every time some sarcastic yuppie type told me some BS story about the building trades I could buy a new truck, cash money. Ask them where they got the story from, and it's always they heard it on some talk show, or heard it from some drunk in a bar, or some mysterious brother-in-law they will not name.
I don't know what makes you think you still aren't wrong after I just explained the situation, but here you go http://i.imgur.com/fC24I5M.jpg Local 370 http://www.iuoe.org/training/local-370-heavy-equipment-operator-training-school
Alright, I apologize then. I stand corrected.
I think you would have had a chance of going to work-- eventually. All IUOE Locals need new apprentices. I understand your disappointment and frustration, I really do. It shows in your response to Buckethead. I think your chances now are zero in Local 370. I would bet they are well aware of this thread. Figuring out who you are would be easy with the information you have posted here. File a grievance, with who, Local 370 or the NRLB ? What will that get you ? What exactly would you have in your grievance ? I am not being sarcastic, only trying to sort out what you want from them. You are asking if you can file a grievance against them. It would be foolish to undertake a procedure that serious on the advise from people on a public discussion forum. You need a lawyer that is experienced in labor relations disputes. I have been a member of Local 150 I.U.O.E for over 40 years. I only say that, so you know where I come from in my response to you. Unfortunately I think you need to move on and put the whole fiasco behind you. I think you are beginning a battle you will never win. Notice that I have said I think several times. That is what my take on it is. Many that read this will say I am wrong. Time will tell.
Again, I apologize. I read it now I realize I came across as a jerk, I didn't mean it that way. I guess I am defensive or something, sorry.
If it's not in writing that you were guaranteed work upon completion I don't think you have a leg to stand on. I'm betting you are right, they are scamming people for money but they are holding up their end of the written contract. I've never been a fan of unions, As I posted in another recent thread: Since leaving the example in the other thread was obviously not "aggressive" enough, we'll go a step further and actually edit in this case. We don't want to go to the length of closing these threads, because they're as important to the affected members of this community as any other mechanical or safety question, but everybody really needs to stay within the guidelines we've laid out.
No worries man, I understand where you were coming from. You don't know me, I don't know you, I'm sure you've heard some lies from people. I just have such a grudge against this place and trying to get some advice and then getting called a liar makes it even worse. Anyways, I don't care about them seeing this thread. I already have a job. If they called me tomorrow and said they had a 5 year job locally I wouldn't accept it. My first thread I didn't say who the local was because i was still in class and still trying to give it a shot but now I'm 100% done with them. As for filing a grievance, I just want international to be aware of what these guys are doing over here. I was excited to be an operatig engineer, until about half way through class when the truth started coming out. Even during my interview, they knew I had a good job, my wife was pregnant, and I was gonna leave everything and drive across the country for this job. You think they would've mentioned "well you might not get to work this year" vs we put you to work right after this class (knowing damn well that wasn't going to happen). I struggled and stressed hard for a couple of months because of their lies, luckily I landed a good job when I did because my savings was just about tapped out. There's others in my class who were in the exact same situation. Maybe "filing a grievance" was the wrong term. I just want to make international aware of what they are doing out there so it can possibly be fixed and this kind of thing doesn't happen to people.
I would send a straight, factoral letter to the International. Might not get you anything but it will make you feel better. About 45 years ago when I first joined my home local,(not IUOE but another trade) we had some local management that thought they were above the law. One day our International Reps swooped in, took over the local, all the officials got removed from office, they reorganized it, held new elections a few months later, and to this day that local is straight up and honest. If in fact the local is pulling some crap that is wrong, the International would be interested. I would venture that if not already they will be looking behind the scenes. They do not want a rampant local giving the IUOE a bad name.
One thing I will add to this discussion is a reminder that this is the construction trade, and there are few "guaranteed" jobs. There may have been big plans in place that were to need many employees, but things happen and projects big and small can get delayed for more reasons than there is space to write about. Just because planned jobs were not there does not necessarily mean that you were lied to. I would spend some time checking on things like that before putting the local on blast to everyone in a public forum, but it is a little late for that now. One thing for sure in the construction trades is that the amount of work will constantly change. There is nothing that can be done about that except to be prepared, and understand that when things like this happen it is not likely some conspiracy, but just the way things are.
I've been in construction for a while and know how things work. I also know how union apprenticeships work. These people lied, bottom line. I've been in contact with international about it, hopefully they will make some changes