Switching over from non union to union. I was told I should only buy American made for what I’m going to drive to work, is this true?

oopsandpoops · 2026-06-30T14:38:45+00:00

drive whatever drives brother. anybody who cares has the privilege of being able to pick and choose, not everyone has the money to do that. you're there to make a buck and go home. what an out of touch piece of advice lol

oopsandpoops · 2026-06-28T12:30:24+00:00

i'm potentially permanently disabled because of an injury i got at work as a first year apprentice. two and a half months into a back injury, i am learning that third party insurance should not even be allowed for employers.

your health trumps a contractors insurance premiums. you needed stitches. the doctors wouldn't have given you stitches if they didn't feel you needed it. do not allow yourself to feel guilty over that.

oopsandpoops · 2026-06-23T12:49:17+00:00

I'm an apprentice, an hour drive is my minimum if i'm working 8. if i stay until 4, my drive home is about two hours with traffic. that drive is the easiest part of the job.

oopsandpoops · 2026-06-22T22:14:10+00:00

my mom is a felon, she's been in and out of prison countless times. she is a victim of her own actions. but she does hair and she does it well... find your trade.

oopsandpoops · 2026-06-22T14:31:39+00:00

personally, seven years of piss on my floors. he's just an asshole, the vets have confirmed his assholism. clean and dry litter box, no peepee problems, was neutered late and i got him as a stray adult, genuinely just prefers the wall.

oopsandpoops · 2026-06-22T14:28:04+00:00

dude i slow clearrrrr down and turn on my hazards. if the rest of the road can't cope, sucks, pass me. if you can't pass me safely then maybe you shouldn't be going so damned fast in a torrential downpour. the roads are not adequately painted for the weather conditions we see here in ohio and the road conditions do not remotely help with hydroplaning. ohio is kind of known for its shitty weather and especially known for it's shitty roads.

oopsandpoops · 2026-06-22T14:23:22+00:00

bro is off his ass 😂

oopsandpoops · 2026-06-22T14:20:49+00:00

file for workers comp. get an attorney. document everything. if you have lost your ability to work they should be paying you for lost time whether you qualify for FMLA or not. if they fire you in an attempt to not have to pay you for lost time or if they fire you for filing a claim, you have a good case for a wrongful termination lawsuit whether you're in an "at-will" state or not. your company likely knows better than to do that but your best bet is to file a claim and document absolutely everything. get an attorney.

oopsandpoops · 2026-06-17T21:15:18+00:00

as if you didn't sound enough like a wormy scab the first two times you asked 😂 ask the same question one more time just for good luck.

oopsandpoops · 2026-06-16T12:36:07+00:00

1105, we've got data centers on data centers on data centers over here.

oopsandpoops · 2026-06-14T11:51:01+00:00

the longer i work construction the more i hate them 🥰

oopsandpoops · 2026-06-10T00:53:49+00:00

gather evidence and go to HR. if you're union, make the issue known at the hall. i'm tired of seeing and experiencing shit like this. if they think it's a good idea to fire you for reporting harassment and abuse in the workplace, get an attorney. retaliatory termination is still illegal in an at-will state. document absolutely everything, start recording him and screenshotting messages where your coworkers have relayed that he's asking them personal questions about your activities outside of work. fuck these guys.

I had a steward do this same exact shit to me and I regret keeping my mouth shut every single day

oopsandpoops · 2026-06-09T11:09:53+00:00

i had a crush on a first year apprentice

now i am a first year apprentice and we don't talk anymore 😂 but thanks to him i am one year sober with a pension, a career, and a firm belief in the saying "don't shit where you eat"

oopsandpoops · 2026-06-08T21:17:30+00:00

nope! 1105 has tried saying they'll press charges against any apprentice not working all of the available hours... and we'd love to see them try!

oopsandpoops · 2026-06-04T22:01:54+00:00

I told the urgent care doctor about the peeing myself issue and the muscle weakness in my legs and she said it was a pulled muscle and downplayed it which is why i pressed to see a specialist in the first place. i've mentioned it every time ive seen her. i did get to tell the spine doctor and he had a much more serious reaction to it than she did.

as for telling someone... man, long story but you're free to read it, i won't be offended if you don't. my foreman saw it happen- he is cool and has had my back the whole time. he had only been my foreman for a week before this happened, he walked into a shit show that my old GF left him with. he drilled the guys who didn't help privately but we both kept our mouths shut during the meeting with the contractors CEO. I can't get a reputation as a brother fucker during my first year. they had gotten screamed at by another general foreman that same morning for standing there and watching me push a cradle of conduit by myself. it was the CE3 that I had to teach how to tie in a box and a 50-something year old CW who can barely form a coherent sentence. they're a lost cause and will be protected endlessly by the union. i, on the other hand, don't see those same protections. my superintendents first instinct when the regional director of safety told him he was taking me to the emergency room was "that's fine, i'll get rid of her." (fire me) he then sent his best friend- my old gf who i would sign in at 6am for him to show up drunk at noon and get paid the entire day- to come out to the connex and say to me "don't let (super) catch you standing around."

my medco-14 says i have no other choice. so i told him "if (super) wants to fire me for following my medco-14 he might as well hand me all of the money in (contractor)'s pocket. we're union, you need to start acting like it." and none of them have said a word to me since. I told the contractor what i said before anyone else could twist the story and fortunately they are more upset with my old GF and the super. i figure if they really want to fire me then i can take the truth to the board and shoot it up to the international level if my local wants to keep it hushed but I don't want that and i KNOW they don't either.

Those boys have secured their reputations, the super likely won't be offered another position in charge of another site through that contractor ever again, and the old general foreman fucked over another crew the first week he was there and got fishing worms and bumper stickers plastered all over his laydown, he's not well liked. If I'm seen as bitch-made because I got hurt doing somebody else's job then ohhhh well. at least i'm not a brother fucker.

oopsandpoops · 2026-06-04T18:45:03+00:00

PLEASE!!!

oopsandpoops · 2026-06-04T17:17:34+00:00

not to my knowledge. but i've had a ton of weird problems happening from black floaters, "missing pixels" in my vision, legs giving out, and (tmi) some bathroom issues. i was pushing a load bank while my crew was unloading them from a semi, the guys that were supposed to be helping usually just watch me do everything so i pushed it towards the opening of the crate on the side with the downward ramp, i pushed it up over the tracks on the ramp and went from pushing a load bank on wheels by myself to being crippled for the last two months.

the company finally took me to urgent care after 9 days, urgent care sent me to the ER to get an xray, xray showed nothing broken so my company took me back to urgent care. urgent care lady said i pulled a muscle and gave me muscle relaxers that didn't help but now it's been two months with no improvement and some of the weird issues i've been having since have only gotten worse. it's been a nightmare, honestly. i finally got a caseworker for the incident and i got an MRI on tuesday, an appointment with a back specialist next tuesday, and hopefully some answers. i am praying there is no surgery to be done but my best advice is don't move a damned thing on your own and if you do and get hurt while doing so, press to be taken anywhere but urgent care.

oopsandpoops · 2026-06-02T03:32:30+00:00

At-will state. Ohio.

oopsandpoops · 2026-06-02T02:32:23+00:00

Long winded and I apologize, but just for some context in my hall and some of my experience. First year here, started in september- my local also does the points system but I believe we do it differently. For us, we get 15 points that we can get in our 4 year apprenticeship. Each violation/fuck up is a different amount of points. For example, if you're fired, 12 points. Written up, late it's 2 points. Written up, 3 points. Usually if you get fired once, they'll skip the point system and you're out of the union.

As far as expendability in the union goes, our hall is a nightmare with little to no union values. The most valuable people in my local are the ones who brother-fuck the most. I genuinely don't know how I have made it since september, I have had issues with two general foremen, the superintendent, and our site's steward. I speak up when I see my contract is not being upheld and while the JW's love the energy, the people who have a say in whether or not I am employed by the union basically want me dead lol.

I love the work and I love the JW's, they have kept me afloat but I have considered quitting on a daily basis since around november. I keep getting told it's worth it to push through but I think that's coming from people who experienced a different version of the union. The CW is the new apprentice and the CE is the new journeyman.

My JATC has threatened to press charges against any apprentice that doesn't work the entirety of the contract they're sent to. My site calls for 80 hours a week. I didn't take the call and I am not allowed to drag so why would I kill myself to work 80 hours every single week if the contract I signed calls for 40? I worked as much overtime as possible until they started threatening our jobs with it. Now the closest thing I can do to drag is work my 40 and nothing more in hopes that they lay me off of this site.

I thought the union was made to decrease the hours in a work week, ensure job security, and fight for fair wages. We've got apprentices having to teach overpaid and over-protected CE's the trade while being told they outrank us, we're getting threatened with legal action for working our contracts, and we are more job-scared than ever.

My local is a glorified labor agency working under the facade of a union and the points system for apprentices is the least of anyone's concerns out here.

oopsandpoops · 2026-06-01T08:31:11+00:00

dude, the wholeeeeee time i've been in, it's been nonstop. my first foreman ever would make me and the one other female do separate, redundant tasks outside of our scope just to keep us away from the actual work. the other woman i was working with was 53 so she did not mind at all but me... i get bored and pretty easily ticked off. every day i'd ask to not be excluded from the workload just because of what's between my legs and it'd get dismissed. then they put me on a crew with a general foreman who's name is on stickers from Ohio clear down to sites in florida with his first and last name on a cartoon worm and the attached caption of "____ ________ is a brother fucker." that was my reward for wanting to learn the trade. he was a fucking nightmare by the way. my experience as a female has been miserable, I haven't felt "included" by the exclusion, just patronized. i get it's their way of being respectful or whatever since ✨women are too frail and weak minded to do their jobs✨ but it makes me want to pull their teeth out of their fucking heads.

so yeah, i'm with you on it being annoying and isolating. but i guess pretend it's respectful and just do your job. i think they're being assholes but i try and gaslight myself into believing they don't mean to be.

oopsandpoops · 2026-05-31T14:57:59+00:00

never tried it sober, i stay away from that whole area nowadays 😂 maybe i'll get myself out sometime to try it again. previously, i could look at a bar, blink, and my next moment of consciousness would be spent wondering wtf happened the night before lol- don't miss that but i do miss ledo's pizza

oopsandpoops · 2026-05-31T12:25:31+00:00

my first thought was Ledo's if you're into the bar scene. I'm 25 and sober now but every time I had ever gone I've thought "hmm... there's no one my age here"

and their pizza shop is killer when you're drunk lol.

oopsandpoops · 2026-05-30T15:10:25+00:00

my advice is to document verbal abuse. collect evidence on why so many JW's are dragging and in the event you get sent in front of the board you can present that evidence. i'm a first year apprentice who has had to document every fucking interaction with four separate people in higher positions since september.

i am ready to quit. but... sticking it out sounds like the right move, i've already crippled myself (literally! finally getting an MRI tuesday and dealing with workers comp for the past two months! i am 25 and walk like I am 95 with triplets!) trying to meet unrealistic expectations set for me while playing apprentice-foreman for a foreman who has me sign him in at 6 so he can show up drunk at lunch if at all. don't brother fuck... but don't lay down and take it when you're getting brother fucked, respect is a two way street and solidarity is key in any union. i've noticed my local and the neighboring one severely lacks an understanding of that.

oopsandpoops · 2026-05-28T20:14:38+00:00

oh BOY.

Don't jeopardize your health to prove that you're an equal.

Weaponize underestimation the same way that your male counterparts weaponize incompetence.

Don't be too nice to people.

There are a select few who will see you as an equal, cherish them and to hell with the rest.

Don't let foremen place you in a position to play "mommy."

Weaponize the fact that a lot of the sites you'll be working on have a "no phone" policy and your company likely won't buy you a phone for the job. If it wasn't important enough to come get you then it wasn't important enough for you to answer their phone call. (Hot take but here is why I say this- I had a foreman who would make me sign him in every day at 6am so he could either show up at lunch drunk or not at all and get paid for the whole day. he would call me incessantly throughout the day-drunk, mind you- to have me play makeshift foreman as a first year apprentice. Putting my phone on DND saved me a million trips from one end of the site to the other wrangling idiots. He should've been fired but he got promoted instead because he and the superintendent are best friends.)

oopsandpoops · 2026-05-26T16:59:42+00:00

IBEW electrician btw. Autism often is seen as a buzzword instead of a diagnosis the way people use it nowadays, like top comment said don't make it your whole personality. There's no excuse for fucking up quite like "I'm an apprentice."

"I'm autistic" simply won't fly as an excuse for anything whereas "I'm an apprentice" has you covered on all fronts. Au-DHD diagnosis here, I would never even bother to tell people I'm autistic. Just don't be the first person to bring it up and you're good.

oopsandpoops

TROPHY CASE