i went the other way ,ibew contract lineman to ibew utility lineman. what you will notice is that both make me what i am first which is an IBEW LINEMAN. what i see to be the problem, and it definately is a problem , is an us against them mindset. contractors see utility lineman as being lazy and somewhat narrow-minded which i find to be true. especially with guys who did their training at the utility, only know one way of doing things "the way we always done it". utility guys always feel that contractors are "taking our work" which i don't see to be true. utilities will always have contractors working for them because it is economical to do so. contractors don't take utility workers work, the companies hand out the work. always been that way, always will be. the only solution i see is for all IBEW LINEMAN to accept thier role in the trade, utility guys doing service work and trouble shooting and contractors doing construction and respecting each other as skilled laborers in a dangerous trade. pull together to get what we all really want, higher pay, safer working conditions and a better way of life.