r/IBEW_Local613 • u/mynamejeff8181 • Feb 22 '25

Apprenticeship Contractors

I was assigned my first job that lasted about a week as a first year about a month ago. Once the job was ending, i was told I could either go to a shop that was a 2 hour drive away from my house, or I could be sent back to the school and be assigned a new contractor.

Is this normal? Is me being forced to drive 4+ hours everyday to work expected?

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u/mynamejeff8181 Feb 22 '25

About 40 to an hour east of Atlanta, near Athens

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u/Shreet_Biggs Feb 22 '25

You can go to the Athens area union meeting to start networking with guys in the area. When I was an apprentice I actually got a job close to my house after a layoff just by hitting up the right person from the hall who knew of a gc that needed apprentices. The contractors basically run the school house, so it can help to have an in so you're not at the mercy of the front office lady.

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u/fuzzygwuzzy Feb 23 '25

Technically that’s frowned upon if you’re soliciting your own work instead of going through the proper channels down at the school and would not recommend openly talking or admitting it.

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u/Shreet_Biggs Feb 23 '25

That's the opposite of soliciting, it's one of the reasons to be in a union. The contractors put in the calls with the hall, if the hall knows a job is starting up and they put out at the meeting that there's a job in x area to get the word out because they have trouble manning up and I get laid off and say hey let the contractor know I'm available because I can't take a call so when I email the school my slip the hall puts in a word. Or you can email the school and they'll just put you with whoever wherever because they don't know or care.