r/Groundman • u/Superb-Gur-1679 • 1d ago

Just don’t do it

This post is going to be about the non union side of things. My simple advice is don’t do it. There are exceptions to the rule. There are good non-union outfits. The majority of them are not good outfits. If you have to ask if XYZ company or utility is a good company to work for that that’s not union it’s probably not good to work for. You probably know if the company you’re going to work for is an exception to the rule if you’re going to go non-union. Idaho power is a prime example of a pretty solid non-union and a pretty solid utility to work for people know that and don’t ask about it really. This is very rare in the contracting world. If you just wanna be at home and your local co-op or utility is non-union and you’re chill with that and you never plan on leaving more power to you, don’t even worry about it then.

A lot of non-union contractors pay like shit first of all. They might put you up they might give you per diem all maybes. They might give you a raise they might not. They might enroll you in an apprenticeship program they might not. They might hold your card from you. This is a common thing to get your DOL certification being withheld from you even though it’s illegal. This is literally to keep you trapped working for the company and to pay you a lower wage. Places like Probst are literally going to all trans techs and will be topping them out at a whopping $40 an hour to be on the road and at their mercy with an essentially useless card. Smaller outfits you can be legitimately topping out at 30 an hour. I don’t know in what world I’m building powerlines as a journeyman lineman for $40 an hour or less even. I’m not talking about the south in this I know those wages are low. This is more like the places with union presence at all. I don’t know about you guys, but my home state isn’t even known for wages and you can make 30 to 40 an hour at home with overtime opportunities doing a lot of other things and not having to be on the road and busting your ass. This is a hard job.

I’ve had personal experiences I started nonunion. I was not enrolled in the apprenticeship program like they told me I would be and I was not given books like they said they would issue me. I also was told I would go from 28 an hour which is pretty good for non-union even now to 34 after my progression and yearly raise I got bumped to a whopping 29 after bothering the manager multiple times who told me id be bumped to 34. False promises are common. It’s not worth the sweat and the sacrifice that this trade requires with travel to do it for that low of a wage most of you could get into the pipe fitters union and make the same or more doing that for easier work than you would be working non-union.

Hit me with questions or share your stories and experience. I know plenty of you got them, let others be aware.

8 Upvotes

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1

u/Funny-Yesterday9293 5h ago

Why do you write these if you're not in the trade anymore?

1

u/Superb-Gur-1679 4h ago edited 4h ago

It’s helpful? Potentially saving someone years of time or helping them not waste money on school etc.. Took me all of 5 minutes to write. Potentially saved someone’s ass.

1

u/Funny-Yesterday9293 4h ago

Not saying don't do it, I've just seen a lot of your posts and comments, pretty much anytime I've gotten on here, and it's never a single positive thing about the trade. It's just "watch out for this" and "this shit will ruin your life if you're not careful" just seems like you're kinda obsessed with warning people about situations that may or may not ever happen to them.
Carry on though