A constrution lineman started the IBEW, now the power company (maintenance) boys think they own it. Basically a lineman is lineman it all depends on you is leading them and the dumb MF's who make up the majority of the utility's management don't have a clue. One big difference between utility hands and construction hands though occurs during the apprenticeship. No one gets babied on construction either you can do the work or you can't, its that simple. If you can't, down the road you go. At the power company if you can't they just let you disappear into their system. Like I said earlier though the biggest problem at the I.O.U.'s and the biggest reason they can't compete is management because the vast majority of the hands are good hands, just no leadership.
Last edited by wudwoker51; 02-15-2010 at 03:15 PM.
" When character is lost, all is lost "
I don't know if they're the worst hands in the state WCH. The guys I've been around were pretty good. I think the Redlands yard was one of the best. The SCE hands were always friendly and very sociable. We even worked together one night on an outage and the crew that was down the road from us was pretty solid.
But as far as PG&E....we had an incident a few years back over in Santa Rosa during a storm when I was working for DUSI. A PG&E crew had pulled a set of our OWN master grounds on us and then attempted to energize the line! Luckily nobody was working on it at the time. And thank God for personal grounds and the EPZ! The foreman of that crew never even apologized to us!
Seems like the utility guys feel they should just hire more full time lineman since they can not handle all the work pushed at them. They think someone is getting more overtime. The utility lineman feel they are getting shafted and the contractors feel they are getting all the shit work the regular lineman do not want to do. I have heard both side say the job is done wrong.......look at the crappy construction......they are all stuck with the same cheap slim budget to get the job done on. Who really wants to walk in that swamp with all the mesquitos even if it is double time. Seriously......no one zip nadda.
I have seen storms in NJ where the contractors can work forever and the shop guys sent home. That is a bitter pill to swallow. I have seen storms where the shop guys replace the contractors. Keep in mind the companies love animosity. They enjoy the school yard squabbles. Half of your best friends were either contractors gone utility or the other way around. The contractors have a set job to do, budgeted, no amount of morning meeting screaming will get rid of them. They do not get unlimited overtime on the company dime(the company is too cheap).
Bottom line........you would save your fellow IBEW lineman, good or bad, thick or thin so why cant you all just get along. Bottom line is money.....and going home in one piece......double edged sword.