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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 914
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ayrton, IEC stands for "Independent Electrical Contractors". I don't want to start a union vs non-union thing, but it's basically an organization for non union EC's. If you want to check it out it's www.ieci.org
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 201
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"Ayerton, I can't speak for others, but...." Quote
Why is this addresed to me? I am not the ******* who hires and lays off.
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Joined: Nov 2005
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i watched my father nearly go bankrupt in 1989 trying to keep men working. We went from 40 men to 0 in the course of about 14 months (anyone in business at the time will remember how it hit the fan at that time)
He tried to keep the last 10 going until things turned around. They didn't turn around until about the mid 1990's.
Unfortunately, had he let them go sooner, he would have been in much better financial shape. It's a tough call.
The way I see it, as contractors we have everything tied up in these businesses (for the most part) if they fail, we are pretty screwed. The guys that work for us can always find another job. Shoot, most of us suck to work for anyway.
So, while you feel bad that they have a family, etc - what's going to happen when you go into debt keeping them working and things don't turn around? You'll have lost everything and they'll move on to their next job. Same as if you laid them off before you went broke.
That being said, layoffs are tough on everyone. But sometimes, they are definately necessary.
This comes from a contractors POV. If i were coming from an employees POV, then any boss who lays guys off just cause they are slow is an ***hole. The boss is rich. He makes a ton of money off me, now he's gonna lay me off? That's bull****. I do all the work, he makes all the money. Without me, he'll go broke. Without me, he'll never get anything done........
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Joined: May 2005
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I fall into the "send them back to the hall" group.
Except for a small group of "shopies" and even then, we can only keep them around for a while with no work.
[This message has been edited by Amazingmg (edited 03-28-2006).]
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Joined: Dec 2001
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"I don't want to start a union vs non-union thing," [Quote]
Why not?? We are all adults here, I think. I'm non union, so you wont offend me, the union people seem to be the ones who get offended. I think it is a great topic.
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Joined: May 2005
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In the interest of keeping this thread running, please stay off the union/merit shop issue.
Thanks, Dave
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 4,391
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It is an ECN policy that we do not discuss union vs non union issues. Dave (Tiger) is correct that this is a good thread but it will be closed out if it turns into merit vs union. You can always discuss those issues via email. Bob
Bob Badger Construction & Maintenance Electrician Massachusetts
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Joined: Mar 2001
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Yes ayrton, we are all adults, that's the problem. Notice that politicians are all adults too. Have you ever seen a more irrational, dishonest group of people? CEOs are adults. Have you ever seen a more greedy, uncaring group? Most murderers, rapists, drug dealers, etc. are adults. Adulthood hardly qualifies anyone to be anything at all except maybe to vote & drink.
Ahhh, childhood... when all you had to worry about was the occasional bully!
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,445 Likes: 2
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No sane person enjoys making decisions that will cause another pain- especially if there is no blame attached to the person affected.
Tom Peters, and others, have documented, time and again, how loyalty works both ways, and the casual hiring/firing of labor leads to a sick company.
Nevertheless, some businesses are different than others. This is espacially true of construction. Let me use Reno as an example. We (the town) are just finishing one big project, and have two more in the pipeline. Now, I can't tell you which electrical contractors will get the jobs- but I can tell you who the electricians will be! A large number of the electricians on the new jobs will be the guys who just worked themselves out of the last one. That's the nature of the biz.
I strongly suspect that there is an informal "pipeline" between contractors, as well. I was once laid off (end of season)....and had just finished cleaning out my truck when another contractor asked if I were available. What made this remarkable was that I had never contacted this guy, he was not running an ad- indeed, he wasn't even in the phone book. A little research revealed that not only was he licensed, but had one of the highest bond limits in the state. I worked for him, and when that job finished, went straight into another. I haven't been idle since.
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Joined: Nov 2003
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Send them back to the place of assembly, at least they will sit on the bench and get called for the next available job, and when they get it they will get the same pay and benefits they had with you. Your employees are professionals, and as such know that they only work when there is work to be done. You are not responsible for their personal financial responsibilities, only for using them to complete the contracts you have on hand. If you only hire qualified Journeyman and apprentices you won't have to worry about them when you let them go.
Edited to help out the new member with some not to dos on this forum.
[This message has been edited by dougwells (edited 03-30-2006).]
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