Well guys I'm done for the year, back to doing something else. Thought I had work until about December, was told that I would be sticking around to help grade check for the footings that my crew is digging on a somewhat big job I've been on. We were going to run 2 hoes, 2 grade checkers, a loader, and a grade engineer. Now they're running 1 hoe, 1 grade checker, there's an extra grade engineer as he just came off another job, so the other hoe operator and myself got cut loose yesterday. I think somewhere along the line they decided that having 2 hoes running would get us done far too quickly and there's hardly any money in the footings as it is compared to the mass ex. that we did. The worst part about all this is that I don't have enough hours to get my health/dental/vision benefits so I won't be getting any of that until next year which is the real bummer for me. If I would've worked for another 2 months like I thought, I would've had that made. Going back to the grounds in a month to get my CDL, that's the only good news. We haven't been hit nearly as hard out here, but we're starting to feel it.
that sux. i am also laid off as of today
Yeah it's no fun. It really wouldn't be so bad if I would've had a full season of work before getting laid off in October. I quit my job in May to go to training, hung out until mid August before I got dispatched, worked 6 weeks and now I'm done until next year more than likely. At that rate, over the course of a year from May '08 to May '09, I worked 6 weeks for the union. I hope next year is better. I have work for the next 5 weeks until my CDL class, not too worried about that period of time. Probably go drive truck somewhere once I have my CDL.
Hang in there CS. That's just the nature of the union beast. Unfortunately, this is kind of a bad time as far as work goes. I have yet to see any sizable jobs start up here in the Low Desert other than what Skanska is doing with the railroad. Getting your CDL is always a good idea. I have fallen back on mine time after time either when work is slow or to earn some extra cash. Actually, driving has always been my first passion. Like some drug addiction, it gets in your blood. I was hooked when I bought my first truck back in 1984. With all of the hours away from home and the abuse I've put my body through, I've relapsed only to end up back behind the wheel many times. And even though being a truck driver (for me) meant that having any kind of normal home life was not likely to happen, I would somehow always end up back in the saddle.
I suppose I just need to keep in mind that with everything against me, this was bound to happen. First year apprentices hardly ever make it through their first winter, we're the first to get laid off once it starts raining. Add a bad work year on top of that and the fact that I work for a company that does no state funded work and it's a recipe for an early winter. Oh well. The thing that bums me out was a week ago I was told I would be sticking around for another 2 months only to find out 5 days later I get the boot. I'll be looking forward to the CDL, I've been wanting to get it. I'd like some truck driving experience, it's no joke that at some point in my life I will be running my own show so having a CDL will be a necessity for that. I'm really hoping next year is better. I was enjoying what I was doing, we were on a pretty specialized job with a lot of technical stuff, but I really want to do road work. I had the opportunity to run some bigger stuff, I spent some time in 400's, had some time in a D8 and D6, but road work sounds very appealing. My boss said he'd have me come back when there's more work, I wouldn't mind going back to work for him, but whether it's him or the hall that calls me first is where I'll be headed come spring.
Im not sure how the apprenticeship program works. I never went through it. I signed in as a journeyman. In 324 you get dispatched by the apprenticeship. They try and send you to a variety of companies. Most common around here is to go to work for the road whores. Then they like to ship you out to the pipeline as much as possible. When i say pipeline, i mean gas and oil lines. Most of the time our apprentices go out there to "run" anything with a 5hp or better engine. This can be anything from watching dewatering pumps, to running a walk behind compactor. The rest is oiling on cranes. Im going on my 4th year in the union. The hall has only found 2 jobs. The first one is because I was out of banked healthcare hours. The dispatcher finally sent me out to a scraper job. I called, updated on the out of work list, told them I was working. Two weeks later a BA called me and asked if I would go to a company in the area. So i took that one. Ill recommend that you find your own job. Go apply at every union company you can find. Assuming you are allowed to. Lastly, Work on improving your skills. Which you already are doing by getting your cdl. Use your training center. Im not sure how yours is, but at 324, we can go Monday thru Friday, 7am thru 4 pm. Any machine we want, as long as it is available. The only exception to this is Feb, when apprentices only are allowed. Which wont be an issue for you. Spend time in a hoe, spend time in a dozer. Spend as much time as possible in a grader, and a crane. There is always demand for good grader and crane operators. Get all the certs that you can. Learn to weld, take your hazmat classes. Take your osha classes. Get your disaster site worker card. Work on getting your CCO. The CCO is the big one. Im not sure on your area, but around here they are pushing it big time. Dont sit back and wait. Be proactive about training. If your local is anything like mine, good times will be here soon. 324 has an average age of 48 years old. This means that in the next 5 years we are going to lose a lot of operators to retirement. It has already started this year. Michigans economy is in bad shape, and rather than travel, and constantly look, we have had a lot of guys call her quits. Ive got a feeling that we will see a lot of big projects nationwide coming soon. My BA just announced at this months area meeting that we have a new power house to build in our area. 2.4 billion dollars worth of work. He also told us that after that one is complete there will be another powerhouse to build on that site, at least another 2.4 billion dollar project. With other work to occur on the existing power houses on site, with an expected total project dollar figure to be in the 8 billion range. Good times are on the way. Be ready for them. Im sure big projects like this will happen in your area also
Until I have 1,200 hours, I can't find my own work, so I'm at the mercy the apprenticeship hall to send me out. The training center here you have to sign up for classes, it would be nice to just be able to show up, but you have to sign up for 2 week classes. I'd like to be out there all winter, but I just can't afford to do it, I have to work. Like I said, I've already gone through almost 4 months of scrambling to find work this summer while waiting for a job, so it's almost as if I've gone through one winter already this year. I don't have the resources this year to spend a couple months at the training center. unfortunately. We should be seeing good times once thie economy turns around. There is a lot of mass transit work that NEEDS to be done here, once that money hits the ground, we'll be scrambling to get enough people to get it done. Problem is, morons here complain about traffic and the like, but when it comes to vote for a half a penny sales tax increase to provide funding for mass transit, they shut it down, then go back to bitching about traffic. The department of transportation is sitting on quite a bit of road work money they've been accumulating for a couple years. It's a 9 cent gas tax that's been in effect for a couple years I want to say. Heard that not a whole lot of that has hit the ground, they've been doing studies and figuring out where to spend it I've heard. Hopefully once that comes down, and hopefully along with the mass transit plan, we'll be stomping around like kings out here. The mass transit plan is a 15 year buildout. The last 7 years of the plan are supposed to be good times, something like $800 million spent each year for 6 years just on that project alone. HUGE money, just waiting for it to happen. I have a lot of certifications already; OSHA 10, C-stop, 40 hour HAZWOPER, Forklift cert., Pipeline Cert. First aid, I think that's everything. Next winter I'd like to take the tower crane class and get CCO certified for that. I'm not really into cranes, I don't want to make a living out of that, but I'd like to get certified to run cranes so I can work when times are slow. In 2010, it will be a state law that you have to be CCO certified to run any crane in WA state. So, I'm going to try and get that done next year.
sux hope you all recover it's not hit africa yet?but it'll be on it's way.
Trust me, its coming.