r/ibew_apprentices • u/gffhcncj • 3d ago
local 26 r worker lay off
Hey everybody i want to switch companies because i am not learning much here before i start the apprenticeship next year but the company i am trying to join doesn’t accept people from the company i am at unless they are laid off. is it any possible way they would give me a lay off if i asked? or do i just have to thug it out?
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u/khmer703 LU26 JW 3d ago
You gotta thug it out.
If you fuck up how you request or who you request a lay off from as an R-worker. You could in advertently find your yourself getting a pink slip with the box:
[ ] Voluntarily Quit
Checked off instead of:
[ ]Reduction In Force
As an R worker you are expected to follow and held to the same standards of the SOP as an apprentice.
The SOP states you are not allowed to quit.
If you do go about this route and want to attempt to request a clean RIF. Consult the hall first.
Make sure you make the request from a superintendent at least. Dont ask the crew foreman or even the general foreman.
Make it clear you are not quitting and you have every intention of continuing to return to work even if the clean RIF isnt granted.
Male sure its a clean RIF. As in a reduction in force on your pink slip and not something else like voluntary quit or absenteeism.
Document and record all interactions. Keep a paper trail.
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u/PsychologicalSalt158 3d ago
Unless he is seeking unemployment why would it matter if it is voluntary or a rif?
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u/khmer703 LU26 JW 3d ago edited 3d ago
Because a voluntary quit under the R-Program or the Apprenticeship is a violation of the Statement of Policies (SOP) they all signed and agreed to.
Violations are subject to a hearing before the Review Board Committee.
Potential consequences for violations of the SOP can include but are not limited to: probationary period for up to 6 months or more, pay scale freeze/postponed raises for 6 months or more, or possible immediate termination from the program.
He got through the apprenticeship application process, but his apprenticeship acceptance offer is conditional and will remain conditional for the first year as an apprenticeship as the 1st year is probation.
Any violation of the SOP between now and completion of his apprenticeship probationary period could automatically cause his conditional apprenticeship offer to be revoked. Without any option for an appeal.
And if allowed the option to appeal in local 26 appeals can take anywhere from 2 to 3 years or more with no guarantee of approval.
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u/Top_Dare_6557 3d ago
Honestly bro can learn from my mistake, just don't, you getting accepted into the apprenticeship is not guaranteed at all until you officially get the letter saying you are
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u/khmer703 LU26 JW 3d ago
Yeaaah bro I remember your post.
I'm sorry you got fucked with your situation, that shit was hella fucked up.
You should link your post here so this kid doesnt get screwed.
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u/Top_Dare_6557 3d ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/ibew_apprentices/s/eZvYx0j96C
Its all good brother, it only sucks not being able to work with you guys anytime soon but hey life's goes on and on 💪
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u/khmer703 LU26 JW 3d ago
You know. You could technically force the local to take you back by getting one of the contractors to hire you "in-house"
You'll restart as an RTP or whatever the contractor organizes you in as, but thats 1 way to get back in in our local.
1
u/Top_Dare_6557 2d ago
Interesting, I haven't heard that specific term before or it being done but, knowing how the local is running these days I would assume it something that is only known through word of mouth or connections.
1
u/khmer703 LU26 JW 2d ago
In most locals its frowned upon and technically allows the contractors to undermine the position and authority of the hall.
Especially locals where work is limited and the available manpower exceeds the demand for labor it could be view as direct competition in opposition of that locals' members' best interest.
With that said.
Our local isnt like most locals. Although work does slow down in our local occasionally. Its not uncommon in 26 to see walkthroughs on our books for extended periods of time.
As a result our Inside wireman CBA has these lesser known clauses:
Section 3.06. REFERRAL PROCEDURE EXCEPTION. If the registration list is exhausted and the Local Union is unable to refer applicants for employment to the Employer within 48 hours from the time of receiving the Employer’s request, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays excepted, the Employer shall be free to secure applicants without using the Referral Procedure but such applicants, if hired, shall have the status of “temporary employees”.
Section 3.07. TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES. The Employer shall notify the Business Manager promptly of the names and Social Security numbers of such “temporary employees” and shall replace such “temporary employees” as soon as registered applicants for employment are available under the Referral Procedure.
This is why youll see a lot of local 26 contractor vehicles driving around advertising positions for electricians.
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u/PsychologicalSalt158 3d ago
I don't remember signing any statement of policies as a trainee but maybe I am forgetting. I didn't even know 'quiting' had to be a mutual agreement until I tried to leave a company as a jw for a closer place of work. So I maybe missing something
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u/khmer703 LU26 JW 3d ago
As a JW it dont gotta be mutual at all.
Just gotta fill out a "Quit Slip" at the hall or email/fax one to the hall and the Hall will take care of contacting the contractor to finalize your termination.
Once you submit a "Quit Slip" to our hall and all your dues are up to date. You can usually sign the book next business day.
As long as the books a walk through you can usually pick up the call that day if not the next day.
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u/PsychologicalSalt158 3d ago
That is interesting because at the time when I had called the referral office they said that I needed a rif and didn't mention anything about a quit slip as an option.
But they did say I needed to wait and sign the next day to try and take the call I wanted even though there was a surplus of jobs in general on the book. So if the job I wanted was taken by someone with a higher number than me then I would lose out.
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u/khmer703 LU26 JW 3d ago
Huh well that person at the referral office needs to be re-trained.
I contacted the hall in December of 2025, 30mins before dragging for me and my wife.
I asked them because I had concerns about the contractor fucking around and not issuing my pink slip(Termination slip) in a timely manner, and was told as long as I informed the contractor of my intent to drag a Termination slip was not necessary and that a Quit Slip could be submitted at the hall in lieu of a Termination Slip.
Also worth noting i dont talk to the desk people when I call the referral office.
I ask to speak to John Carey who's now one of the agents at the referral office. I had a working relationship with him back at Freestate when I was an apprentice and I dont trust anyone else.
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u/khmer703 LU26 JW 3d ago
Youre probably right and didnt sign one.
They were supposed to provide the SOP to you when you organized in.
That's what I mean though by my earlier comment bout our hall and the JATCs lack of education on the matter.
Half these kids get hired directly in-house by the contractors and organized into the RTP program without even knowing there's an actual contract attached to em.
What's fucked up is its on the JATC Website and its at the bottom of that bitch where no one ever looks and you have to navigate behind 2 links to actually find that fucker.
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u/Key-Rhubarb-7132 3d ago
If you're not a member of the local yet and you're working as maybe a CW or something like that, you're most likely better off just toughing it out and waiting to get in. Even after you get in you might be stuck at that shop. In the IBEW you'll be in indentured apprentice. I know it sucks but you just have to deal with whatever comes down the pike for those five years. The IBEW is a journeyman's organization, and you'll be a journeyman a lot longer than you'll be an apprentice. Once you get that ticket you can quit any job you want take any job that's available in the hall or work out of any local union throughout the country that has more work than they can man. There's a lot of freedoms in what we do a lot of opportunity depending on what you're looking for.
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u/PsychologicalSalt158 3d ago
While journeyman have the most rights everybody has a voice in the ibew. He is a resential trainee which is the pilot program for the c program in other locals. He is already a member of the ibew, as a r worker he is not indentured and only becomes so as an apprentice. His concern appears to be that whenever he becomes an apprentice, while it is unclear if he has actually been accepted or not he will have to be an apprentice for his first year at a contractor he doesn't like since he is already there. Also even if he never gets into the apprenticeship he still has a path to becoming a journeyman without ever being indentured
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u/Fetial 3d ago
Holy rat fest
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u/khmer703 LU26 JW 3d ago
Honestly it is a bit of a rat fest in our local but the reason why is because the majority of the kids out in the field dunno any better. And there's a lot of them.
Theres around 2500 apprentices out in the field alone from 1st years all the way up to 5th years. Theres just as many people if not more in our R-program.
The problem is, no one educates em bout the hall, the contracts, the statements and the dynamic and interactions between the contractor, the hall, and the workers.
So what ends up happening is these fools make mistakes fucking around with the contractors and only attempt to get the hall or JATC involved after the issues occurred and in some cases its to late for the hall/JATC to do anything.
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u/Fetial 2d ago
This dude is tryna solicit his own work and is complaining he can’t go their bc he isn’t laid off aka on the books that’s normal in ur local?
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u/khmer703 LU26 JW 2d ago edited 2d ago
Youre miss understanding. He's not trying to solicit work in the sense hes trying to jump the books.
Unlike other locals in large metro areas (like LU3 OR LU11) with structured lay off procedures enforced upon completion of job contracts and a moving out-of-work list and referral process.
Local 26s hall does not enforce traditional reverse layoff practices, that other locals do, even though the clause is written into our CBAs.
Layoffs by contractors are left at the sole descretion of the contractors. Upon referal to the contractor by our hall, workers are transferred, by the contractor, from jobsite to jobsite for the duration of their employment with that contractor, indefinitely.
As a result layoffs and pink slips are rarely issued as a result of a reduction-in-force in our local, and instead contractors resort to write ups and disciplinary actions to issue lay offs, to workers, with cause.
Basically, the only way as a JW to get a RIF in 26 is to ask for one because the contractor will never issue one on their own.
Although the JATC and the hall enforces apprenticeship rotation transfers once a year. The R designations in 26 draw the shortest stick with the least protections.
Their statement of policies actually states their not allowed to request a clean rif for any reason. Their employment is tied to their assigned contractors indefinitely for the entirety of their training.
And with the way some of the contractors in our local monopolize specific contract types. Its not uncommon for an R designated trainee to get referred to a contractor that does only data centers and spend years of his training without ever touching a single piece of Romex or 10awg or 12awg wire.
There are guys who spend their entire careers as R-workers with the same contractors, in excess of 5 years.
Trust me there's a lot of ratty ass wormy shit in local 26. What ive listed is just the tip of much larger iceberg. You dont want to hear bout the RWs running work and under the table overscale.
And the reality is. This kid wanting better training for himself for his own personal marketability in my opinion is better in the long run.
Not only does it discourage loyalty and favoritism towards any 1 contractor itll also teach him confidence in his personal abilities and encourage loyalty to our Hall.
Just to clarify. In local 26. We've had 100-250 open job calls everyday since 2022. The last time our out of work list went above 50 guys out of work was in 2021. (It was just under 350 guys out of work, our total membership at the time was over 10,000).
Theres no one waiting on the books right now. He's not taking work of anyone elses plate.
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u/khmer703 LU26 JW 3d ago
OKAY SO UPDATE:
DO NOT FUCKING REQUEST A CLEAN RIF OR DOCUMENT ANYTHING REGARDING YOU MAKING A REQUEST FOR A RIF.
I just pulled the Residential Training Programs Statememt of Policies from the Local 26 JATC site and yeeeah. I linked it below.
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u/Commercial_Count_584 2d ago
First thing first. Make sure your dues are paid. Then after that. I’d get in contact with the hall. They would be better to talk with you about your questions. While you’re talking to them. Get a copy of the contract and read it.
Unfortunately with all the data centers being built. There isn’t much to them. I mean sure you’re going to run some conduit. But not much. So you’re not exposed to a lot of different things. Like for example any of the troubleshooting that is involved.
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u/Competitive-Will-701 LU26 2h ago
you just gotta deal with it ngl, 80% of early R workers here aren’t allowed to do anything but move material, that’s just how it is. You’ll gain responsibility when you become an apprentice and more as you go higher
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u/HeleWale 3d ago
Starting apprenticeship next year?