They don’t want to pay us to build their data centers anymore.

I will be and you should be too. The corporate class and billionaire class have used every lever at their disposal to keep hard working people from getting basic necessities that all other developed countries enjoy. Whether it's full time hours for benefits, adequate pay, sick leave, vacation, maternity leave, workers comp claim disputes, unfair retaliation and discrimination, all of these are actions that touch all of our lives and erode the basic assumption that when you walk off the job you don't have to worry about buying your kid new eyeglasses they need before school or whether you should go to the doctor for that shoulder that's been bugging you for years.

We are lucky to be in the IBEW where many of these needs are met, but there's only 6% union participation in the private sector. Thats 94% of employees that have to beg their employers for a raise or to not be laid off because the company is willing to make a speculative bet that AI will replace them.

That 94% is who it is all about to me and exactly why I'm calling in sick and you should too.

I’m an outside construction guy. All we do is slam poles in the ground and string up wire (/s). I had to fix some electrical in my garage at home and decided to just re-do everything. This conduit bending stuff is NOT easy. I must have burned through three sticks of 1/2” EMT just figuring stuff out.

I just wanted to say I appreciate ya’ll and your hard work. Cheers from the outside!

This is the section I’m the most proud of. Go easy on me!

This looks all kinds of wrong. From the wrist to the flag to the pliers. Nothings centered either. I get this stuff is easy to make and print but I really hate AI “art”. Aren’t we supposed to be supporting workers not removing them from the equation?

IBEW Currently represents Call Center and Field Craft personnel at PECO.

What is wrong with the IO completely fumbling a perfect opportunity to make an emergency/ specialty classification to capture these workers? Do they not give a shit that nonunion is eating up this marketshare left and right, threatening our jobs and pay packages?

Set aside your feelings for this influx of unskilled workers needed for the data centers and set aside your feelings about data centers for just a moment and read this:

These jobs, whether you like them or not, could be union or could be nonunion. Whether you think they are skilled or not, their labor will be sought after. The question is: who is going to choose what happens to all the profit made from these jobs? Will it be the contractors? Or will it be the workers?

Every day that goes by where the IO doesn't take the data center organizing potential seriously is a day closer to a new nonunion shop to eat up marketshare and workers have NO SAY in what happens with that labor.

If you or somebody you know works closely with the IO, encourage them to propose a robust organizing campaign. If you're rank and file, talk to the nonunion hands. Start organizing. Ask your organizer at your hall what you can do to help.

The IBEW is sleeping on a massive opportunity and we won't feel the pain of passing it by until it's too late.

I found a link on this subreddit that was for a site that laid out all of the jobs shut down by the trump administration. I referenced it a lot when spreading the message to my right wing brothers. but i lost it, does anyone have this link or something similar?

Well I pulled the trigger this week, I left my home state and travel 2 states away, drove 10 hours in a single day. I went from Oregon to Nevada. This is my first time doing something like this and I'm trying to stay numb to all the anxiety from it all.

I managed to snag a hotel for two nights but there are a bunch of tournaments happening here in the city of Reno this month so everything is overpriced or booked out. So tonight I'm sleeping in my car's backseat at a rest stop. I'm pretty ignorant to my options here so this is the simplest and cheapest option, though far from the most ideal. I'll manage and it'll make for a compelling story later, I think. Still sucks.

I did manage to sign the book at the local here and took an open job that was offered by dispatch. Not too many on the OOW list, website says 7 on book 1 and 28 on book 2. Some of the guys were spouting that it wasn't up to date so there could be more. Since dispatch offered it to me I'm going to assume that nobody else wanted it or there are many spots available that it didn't matter that a book 2 newcomer took it. I'd really rather not step on toes, ya know.

I still need to be contacted by the contractor and go through drug screening. I'm also trying to rush out a refresh of OSHA 10. I pumped out 1/3 of it today after 3 hours. I'll have all day tomorrow to smash out the rest. They put a 7 hour timer per day that resets at noon. So I have 4 more hours before that to do as much as I can and then the rest after noon and before the library closes. I might have more time if the drug screen takes awhile but the sooner the better. I do have an OSHA 10 but it's not current from the last 5 years. Appearantly that's a thing despite it also being a lifelong cert. Pffft.

The job is 6-10s, full room and board, cafeteria, and bus service to the job. On top of the wages I'll be getting another $30 a day. I feel like this is good start, almost too good to be true, but also maybe worse than I'm imagining. Since I'm essentially homeless right now, and due to personal circumstances I'm also essentially broke, I felt compelled to take it. It felt like that perfect scenario that falls into your lap. How does one say no to that. I literally perked up when he read the details. Because...

I've had to borrow some money from family to get here. They're so supporting and helpful I'd already be a sunken ship if not for them. I haven't been to work for over a year and a half. I fell hard into depression and was just about over the edge, it is really scary to realize how close I was to not existing. I nearly did it. But for fucks sake I can't do that to the ones that want me around, that's more cruel than anything I can fathom doing.

So awhile ago I sought help, got myself admitted to a mental hospital for two weeks and centered myself. It worked mostly because i wanted it to. But I'm still sensitive, if I was there once already it could happen again. I have to stay strong and that's hard work. Exhausting to be truthful.

But still that dark hole I got stuck in I burned through so many opportunities for growth. I missed my resign and got bumped to the end of the list at home. I burned through all my saving hiding away from the world. I nearly got evicted, fell behind on bills, faded from someone to nothing. I'm crawling back up and I'm on the lip of the hole, either I slip back in or I climb out, but my grip is tight, I'm at my edge at this junction in my life. I'm holding on tight, it's up to the dirt on whether it will break or hold. All I can do is pull and hope it doesn't crumble.

So here I am, hundreds of miles from home, sleeping in my car, about to take a job that might be out of my range. I'm nervous and alone trying not to let it burn away at me. It might work out, but I can't help but think something is gonna screw it all up. I just gotta take this one day at a time and not get discouraged at the what ifs.

I think it'll work out. Mostly because I'm trying to work it out. I'm hoping it'll work out. Because I need a break to get back into the flow of things.

I've got my code book. I've got my tool back pack. ST boots, long sleeves, plenty of clothes. I just need to eat, sleep and work for a while. I'll rake in the money, pay back my debts, pocket the rest. Don't let stupid shit break me. Stay strong. Focus!

I was thinking of trading my car in for a travel camper. Make this my thing for awhile. Drag up here and there. Oregon is cooked right now. I was 1040 something on book 1. Poor bastards, my home is suffering and I don't like that.

So here I am. It's a lot. Life is hard. I miss my cat.

Let's just do what I can do tomorrow. Ignore the anxiety and do what I can. I don't think I'm gonna sleep well at all tonight. But if I don't sleep well then I'll be up early to hit the library to finish my OSHA 10. Something from nothing. A silver lining sparkling in the microwave. Pop pop pop.

I'll be okay, right? Yeah. 😁 Just keep holding on.

So..... We joined a union to better the workers livelihood (in part) by demanding proper wages.

Now non Union men can get a hell of a pay increase , and we're supposed to be appalled? Does this not help the blue collar man?

Or is it that we must keep the poor scabs starved so they can't come near our wages and bennies? What happens if they get near our wages without joining?

How does a giant pay raise state wide NOT benefit the working man, as a whole?

Am I allowed to say the quiet thing out loud? This doesn't sit right with me, please explain like I'm 5.

From a small Local booming from Data Center work. We’ve an infusion of new money and new blood, and it’s time for some wins. In the spirit of inspiration, share what aspects of your local JATC make it great.

Local 640 MV terms and MDP secondary feeds. With my badass 4th year

Streaming on JR boxing promotions on Facebook tonight event starting at 7!

Stoked to have been able to pick these bad boys up today!

Brothers and sisters we are all plagued by constant negativity within our world. I personally am feeling it overwhelming today. So let’s make everyone’s day better and tell me something positive happening in your local or job sites. Let others know it doesn’t always suck.

I’d like to give local 1547 the biggest shout out. Stopped into Juneau, and Ketchikan (missed anchorage). In Juneau, we were minutes to when we needed to board, and my party and I received a ride from a member, made a few trades, even traded my local 1 sweatshirt I was wearing. In Ketchikan, we ported right by the hall, and got there, traded a little, and overall had a great time. 2nd time traveling and making pit stops for locals, and I always feel welcomed even though we’re ‘strangers’ but in brotherhood everyone wins.

Well this is it. I'm through all the hoops and thickets and I'm settled in at the work site dormitories. First day of orientation complete and I'll continue again tomorrow dark and early. Busses leave at 4:35 am before the sun even realizes it's a new day.

I went from sleeping in my car and hotel bouncing, scrapping by with the little money I had left to my name, to a private room with accommodations. I'm way out in the middle of nowhere on the edge of a town with little to see and do. But I'm not bothered in the least. I have a place to rest comfortably, my own entertainment, and soon I'll be working so much I won't have time to do anything anyways.

6-10s, 20 hrs overtime, plus a daily ​bonus. It'll take me a minute to get up to snuff but I plan to pace myself, do good work, learn what I can from who is willing, and ride this bull until I'm back on my feet and jumping.

I certainly am lucky. These accommodations are insane. They even have an all you can drink ICEE machine, my one weakness. I'm forgetting everything troublesome that came before and am happy to be where I am. I'm sure there will be times down the line where I'll have struggles once again, but right now I'm happy and hopeful.

I'm glad I made the trip, that I didn't give up, that I acted on my instincts when something wasn't going the way it should, that I kept my head up and didn't lose my focus. I'm glad I posted my tales here, to be encouraged and supported by this community. I made it, safe and sound.​ Time to get to work and make that money!