This is intentional. My thought is that you'll hear it from the people you're working alongside, and it will be more impactful from them than from me.

But I want you to hear it from me too, from time to time, because it's actually the most important aspect of everything I do.

So, to my new and future Brothers and Sisters, and to anyone else who may need a reminder:

All manner of sacrifices may be asked of a union member. If you're only doing it for you, right now, you've got it all wrong.

Our Brothers and Sisters who paved the way for us sacrificed their careers, their freedom, their health and safety, and sometimes even their lives so that we could have the things we have today.

The sacrifices we ask of you are laughable compared to what they went through.

Becoming a Brother or Sister in the IBEW is not earned, it is freely given, and then you must live up to it. Nothing unworthy of a man or woman will be asked of you.

Paying monthly dues is the least of the responsibilities of an IBEW Brother or Sister.

It is expected that you will hone your craft. You may not be an electrical worker forever, but you're an electrical worker right now, and as long as you're an IBEW electrical worker, we expect that you will be the best electrical worker you can be.

I remember the first job I was on, after my Journeyman had shown me the basics of bending an offset, he asked me for one 7 5/8. I said, "what's my tolerance?" He said, "what are you talking about?" I said, "like will 7 1/2 work?" Without the slightest hint of playfulness in his eyes he replied, "you're going to hand me an offset that's 7 5/8, if you hand me anything else, I will hand it back to you, and we'll keep doing that until you hand me an offset that's 7 5/8."

That's what we're talking about.

We will provide you with whatever training you need, but it is your responsibility to demand the best of yourself.

We expect that you will give the man 8 for 8. Not 6 for 8. Not 10 for 8. You are expected to start at start time, break at break time, and walk at walking time, every day.

If you do that, and you genuinely try your best, you will be fine.

We expect you to work safe. That requires a little backbone. If you are asked to perform an unsafe task, you are expected to say no, no matter what your classification.

Likewise, you are expected to report all unsafe conditions, accidents, and near misses, through the proper channels, immediately, no matter how seemingly minor.

We expect that you will adhere to our Collective Bargaining Agreement, Constitution, and Bylaws, even the parts you don't like, at all times.

We expect that you will never again perform work for non-signatory electrical contractors, unless you do so at the request of the hall.

We expect a certain level of engagement. Come to some union meetings. Understand how the hiring hall works. Read our governing documents. Vote in our elections. Heck, run for office.

We expect open and honest communication. This applies to your employer, your Brothers and Sisters on the job, and the hall.

There is no problem, I promise you, which is unsolvable. The only unsolvable problems are problems which are not communicated.

We demand respect. You will respect yourself, you will respect your Brothers and Sisters on the job, you will respect your employer, and you will respect the hall, and you will be respected by all of the above named as well.

We are all human beings first. We are professional wiremen, and we will comport ourselves as such.

We have a better way of doing things in the IBEW, and we will give you a better life, but it requires some effort on your part as well.

If you're ready to live a better life, please message me today.

We've filled calls for a total of 97 Journeymen and CEs in the past 18 working days. That number being overwhelmingly Journeymen, and overwhelmingly newly organized workers.

I don't know the numbers of Apprentices and CWs referred from the JATC in that time period, but I know they've been busy as a beehive up there.

We've put a good dent in what our contractors describe as their manpower needs for the next 90 or so days.

This year has been full of surprises, but the time between Thanksgiving and New Years is traditionally a slower time for hiring in our Local.

Then January and February are also traditionally slower than the rest of the year, though I think in 2025 we'll be plenty busy hiring in the first two months.

We're busy. What calls will be available on any given day is never information I will have for certain in advance.

Don't let 20 Journeymen or 11 CEs beat you to these calls we've got right now.

Come to the union hall with some sort of documentation showing at least 4 years of fulltime electrical construction industry employment and we'll put you to work immediately.

If you've got 6 years you can go out for Journeyman wages and benefits.

That's $36.21 per hour, health insurance covering you, your spouse, and your dependent children at no out of pocket cost, and retirement which could realistically make you a millionaire depending on your age, entirely funded by your employer.

Nothing comes out of our checks for our benefits.

I know you're not making that now.

If you're ready to live a better life, please message me today.

I put in only the bare minimum effort to graduate high school.

I'm going to be a millionaire.

I never completed a spring semester of college.

I'm going to be a millionaire.

I have taken on interest bearing debt for chicken tenders.

I'm going to be a millionaire.

I've been arrested multiple times.

I'm going to be a millionaire.

I have been under the impression that I found a system to win at roulette.

I'm going to be a millionaire.

I have never gone above and beyond in order to keep a job.

I'm going to be a millionaire.

I make zero personal investments.

I'm going to be a millionaire.

I spend all the money I make.

I'm going to be a millionaire.

I have no family money.

I'm going to be a millionaire.

Y'all, being a Journeyman Inside Wireman member of IBEW Local 666 is like unlocking a cheat code on life.

By current American standards there is absolutely no reason whatsoever that I should ever be a millionaire.

But unless something completely crazy happens I will be, a multimillionaire as a matter of fact. The only question is will it start with a 2, 3, or 4.

That's without ever setting aside one penny on my own. That's also does not include the two defined benefit pensions I will receive, or social security.

"But Eric, you're a union fat cat, feathering your nest with a job in the hall."

I assure you that there would have been significantly more going in my SERF account these past six years had I been working in the field. I have many friends in the field who were behind me six years ago, that are ahead of me now.

I want you to get ahead of me too.

If you're a non-union electrician in the Richmond area, you're never going to be a millionaire from doing electrical work.

Never.

We're inviting you in.

I'll put you to work tomorrow.

There are no roadblocks.

Are in your 30’s or younger and want to do what you're currently doing and be guaranteed to never be a millionaire, or do you want to do what you're currently doing and have the potential of becoming a millionaire?

What is it that's keeping you from giving yourself this gift?

Have you spoken with your spouse about it? Your parents? Anyone who really loves you?

Go ask a loved one what they think you should do.

You're already an electrician.

The choice isn't A or B.

The choice is A or A plus way more money.

Ask someone who loves you if you should take option A, or option A plus way more money and see what they say.

Every day you wait is just another day you're shooting yourself in the foot.

If you're a non-union electrician in the Richmond area and you're ready to live a better life, please message me today.

"I don't want to take a test."

You don't have to. Show me 6 years’ experience, you get Journeyman wages and benefits.

"I want to be a foreman."

You probably won't start out as one, but plenty of our employers are looking for good foremen.

"I want a company truck."

I cannot arrange that. Many of our members have company trucks, though most do not.

"No, I mean I don't have a car."

Oh, well you could probably Uber to work and still be putting more in your pocket, all things considered.

“I get 2 weeks PTO every year”

Factor in the PTO and we're still doing better, coming and going. We can take all the time off we want.

“I get a Christmas bonus.”

With our wages you will find you will make more than your Christmas bonus will give you.

"I don't want to quit smoking pot."

We need you drug free at work, but not all of our jobs require pre hire drug testing.

"I don't have a state Journeyman's license."

Doesn't matter.

"I have a state Master's license."

Also doesn't matter.

"I've got good health insurance."

That's great. I've never met a non-union electrician who had better health insurance than us, and ours covers you, your spouse, and your dependent children at no out of pocket cost.

"I've got to finish up this job."

You are a free born human being. You do not have to finish up this job.

"I don't want to leave them high and dry."

They leave you high and dry every payday. Where are they when your bills come in?

"My boss is a great guy."

We'll put him to work too. If you would both be getting a raise, you should both come over. If you would be getting a raise and he would be taking a pay cut, that man is not your friend.

"I have to put in two weeks notice."

I understand that is the common practice in the rest of the world. It is not here. We'll probably have jobs available in two weeks, but I can never guarantee it. Would they give you two weeks notice if they were going to fire you?

"I don't want to be laid off."

For as far out as it is reasonable to look in the construction industry, the conventional wisdom is that our members won't be having to worry about unemployment. If you get laid off, come on down to the hall. We'll put you back to work when your number comes up. If it's anything like it's been here recently, that will be on the spot.

"I'm a former member."

Even better. If you were a Journeyman, you can sign the book and take a call just like you never left. You've got a clean slate when it comes to membership. There is no such thing as back dues.

"I've got a criminal record."

You'll be in good company.

"I don't want to work overtime."

We've got 40 hour jobs available.

"I want to work overtime."

We've got overtime jobs available.

"I don't want to travel."

All of our work is within roughly an hour radius of Richmond. Most of it is in Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield, and the Tri-Cities.

"I want to travel."

Throw a dart at a map. You can probably work wherever it hits as an IBEW electrician. (That is a slight exaggeration.)

"I need more training."

We can get you the training you need for free.

"I don't want to commit to anything."

You're not committing to anything but yourself when you take a job with us.

"I can do better negotiating for myself."

My job is talking to electricians. I have never met a non-union electrician in the Richmond area, working in construction, in a non-supervisory role, who made a higher total compensation than a Journeyman Inside Wireman member of IBEW Local 666.

"I don't want to pay to work."

You're paying to work right now my friend. Your non-union dues are exorbitant compared to union dues.

What did I miss?

Every one we fill, our contractors place three more.

Seems like every day I'm referring someone I just met two days prior.

We will need hundreds more in the coming weeks and months, of all skill and experience levels.

We make more money. We have better benefits. We have better working conditions.

The organizer's worst enemy is the innate human fear of change.

I'm telling y'all, it's the same job, only you'll potentially retire a millionaire.

If you're an electrician in the Richmond area and you're ready to live a better life, please message me today.

IBEW 666 Job Calls

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As you are well aware, we are unapologetically organizing every single non-union electrician in the Richmond area into membership in IBEW Local 666.

If you are a non-union contractor, or in upper level management for a non-union contractor, I want you to know that I do not want your employees to quit your shop and come to work for one of our contractors at the superior wage and benefits package we have collectively bargained.

I absolutely do not want that.

I want you to retain your workforce. I want you to have access to our manpower pool. I want you to have access to the best training for your employees. I want you to be able to provide your employees with the best benefits in the industry. I want you to have access to all sub-contracting opportunities, as opposed to the fraction of them you have access to now.

It is easy to become a signatory contractor.

Of course you'll want to look everything over, and probably run it by some people, but it's really just a matter of signing a form, getting a small bond, and adhering to some very basic rules.

We have among the largest contractors there are. We have one man shops. We have everything in between.

Our contractors do all kinds of work, from residential service to the big heavy commercial and industrial jobs.

I know this isn't true for all of you, but you may have lost bids to our contractors before.

If you've lost a bid to us, you know you can do it.

You probably have some misconceptions about us.

I'd love to talk to you.

If you're interested in learning more about how you can do the absolute best by your workforce, and have the most opportunities for your company, please message me today.

Nationally, the projection is that we'll need more than 80,000 new electricians a year, for the next 10 years.

The Richmond Virginia area, broadly speaking, is one of the places where that need will be disproportionately high.

We just started the largest class of apprentices we've ever started in August.

Our intention is to start a significantly larger class in January.

Accounting for attrition, retirements, and our upcoming manpower needs, the apprentices we're starting aren't even a drop in the bucket.

I think people think I'm exaggerating when I say we need every single non-union electrician in the Richmond area.

I am not.

If anything, I am under selling it.

I have been an organizer for IBEW Local 666 since 2018.

This six year period has been the busiest six year period in our local's history.

What we're looking at going forward stands to make the past six years look slow by comparison, and it will happen in a significantly tighter national, regional, and local labor market.

Travelers are a band aid on a sucking chest wound. I certainly welcome any travelers here, but there just aren't enough to go around.

We don't have any "mega-projects." We have a bunch of what we would have traditionally called big jobs, and we still have plenty of small and mid sized jobs throughout our jurisdiction.

If we ever got into a position where our contractors were cannibalizing one another through competing incentives, I guarantee you could kiss our small work goodbye, and maybe even some of our small contractors.

We're already losing some small work now.

I don't theorize that. I know that to be true.

We don't even have all the big work.

This is a very dangerous position for a local to find itself in.

Lucrative to be sure, but dangerous.

We need every single non-union electrician for our very survival.

We earnestly invite all workers belonging to our trade to come forward, join our ranks, and help increase our numbers, until there is no one left working at our trade outside our Brotherhood.

If you're an electrician in the Richmond area and you're ready to live a better life, please message me today.

Are you an apprentice? I want you and all your classmates. It's probably easier to slide into our apprenticeship than you think.

Are you a helper? I want you and everybody you're helping.

Are you a mechanic? I want you and all your buddies.

Are you a state licensed Journeyman? I want every single one of you.

Are you a state licensed Master? I want every single one of you too.

Are you a foreman, general foreman, running a job? I want you and your whole crew.

Can you document 6 years electrical construction industry work history? We'll put you out as a Journeyman on the spot.

Come with a helper as a package deal? We'll make it work.

Trouble with English? We'll figure it out.

Primarily residential experience? Come on down.

Have a checkered criminal history? We literally recruit out of prisons.

Don't want to go to school? You don't have to.

Want to go to school? We've got you covered.

Don't want to take a test? You don't have to.

Want to travel? We were made for that.

Don't want to travel? We've got work coming out our ears right here.

Have you left the industry? Come on home.

Want to work overtime? We've got all the overtime you want.

Only want 40? We can make that happen.

Wage at your experience level doesn't work for you? Tell me what does. I certainly can't guarantee anything, but I at least want to know.

All of our classifications have health insurance for their whole family at no out of pocket cost, and extremely generous retirement entirely funded by the employer.

We've got 44 calls for Monday. The big calls haven't even started yet.

We need every electrician in Richmond Virginia

We will not turn you away.

If you're ready to live a better life, please message me today.

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If you're a journey-level non-union electrician in the Richmond area, on the low end you might be making 25 dollars per hour. On the high end you might be making 35. I know some make less and some make more, but I think about 95% are in that window.

You are probably offered a 401k with a 2-4% match. You probably don't contribute to it.

Again, I know many do contribute, but the overwhelming majority don't. Many aren't offered retirement at all. A very few are offered something better.

If you're under 26, like most people your age, you're probably on your parents' health insurance.

If you have health insurance through your work, you might pay as little as 50-ish a week for it, or as much as several hundred if you've got a spouse and/or children on it.

I know a very small number of you are offered free health insurance.

A minority of you have a company truck. The truck is gold in the non-union world, and while very convenient, I think many ascribe a higher value to it than it warrants. A rule of thumb for a truck is $6,000 a year, or $3 per hour. If it's a take home with a gas card.

My Brothers and Sisters, IBEW Local 666 can beat what you've got in every single category. Every single time.

I've never met a journey-level construction electrician in the Richmond area for whom that wasn't true.

We've got jobs coming out our ears in the hiring hall. We need you and all your friends.

If you have less than 4 years experience, you are eligible for our apprenticeship or Construction Wireman program.

If you have 4 years experience you are eligible to take our Journeyman Examination or go into our Construction Electrician program.

If you can show me documentation of six years experience I can put you to work on the spot for full Journeyman total package.

That's $36.21 on the check, health insurance at no out of pocket cost for you, your spouse, and your dependent children, a defined contribution retirement which can realistically make you a millionaire if you start with us in roughly the first half of your career and work with us until you retire, a defined benefit pension which will provide security throughout your golden years, and a second defined benefit pension once you join the local.

Nothing will come out of your check for any of those benefits.

Oh yeah, and plenty of our members have company trucks.

If you're ready to live a better life, please message me today.

I think we're down to about 35 now.

If you've been kicking the tires, now would be a good time to act.

I anticipate we'll generally have a need for manpower for the foreseeable future, but there will be gaps in calls here and there.

I always say, I can never guarantee calls at a future date, only what I've got right now.

If you've got 6 years documented electrical construction industry work experience, I'll put you to work tomorrow making $36.21 per hour plus full benefits.

If you're ready to live a better life, please message me today.

Im 18 and just applied for nccer eletrical 1 (i start next year) through way point cummunity college. I have zero eletrical work experience and only know how to do basic house hold eletrical work. So am I in the right track or not? (Thankyou for reading if you do)

This is obvious with even the slightest examination.

I can go get a non-union electrical construction job, and I could never get anything close to what I could get working union.

There are a few union maintenance jobs around town I could get where I would make more.

I'm the same guy with the same skill level at all of those jobs.

The ONLY determining factor in how much money you make as a wage worker is how much leverage you have in negotiating your wage. That's it.

That is why in a union building trade environment we focus on market share so much.

If we represent say 25% of the total workforce, well we only have so much leverage in wage negotiations. At the end of the day, our customers wouldn't have much trouble replacing us.

If we represented significantly over 50% of the total workforce on the other hand, that's a different story.

Whenever you hear about enormous wage gains made by a union, I'd be willing to bet a shiny dime that that union represents the overwhelming majority of the workers who do that job in that area.

That's what it's all about.

I make no attempt to hide my selfishness. I want all electrical workers to join the IBEW so that I can make more money.

You'll make more immediately, and we'll all make more in the long run. There's really no downside.

I can put you to work tomorrow.

If you're an electrician in the Richmond area and you're ready to live a better life, please message me today.

Are you going to vote for Donald Trump?

Are you going to vote for Kamala Harris?

Are you going to vote for a 3rd party or independent candidate?

Are you undecided?

Are you not going to vote at all?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, and you're an electrical worker with at least six years of experience, I can put you to work today making $36.21 per hour plus full benefits, for a total package of $53.33 per hour.

If you're ready to vote for yourself, message me today.

Beginning with jobs let out after next July, any City of Richmond project over $250,000 will have to pay Prevailing Wage to all workers on the project.

This is monumental. This will tangibly improve the lives of construction workers in Richmond, perhaps more than anything else that's happened in my lifetime.

If you're a non-union electrician, there's a good chance your boss fought against this. Just remember that.

This win is a result of many years of work, and it was built upon even more work done by very many others, to even make it legal at the state level.

As someone who was loosely involved in this at the local level, I can say, and I think anyone involved would agree, that it wouldn't have happened without the persistent effort of Richmond Building Trades President, and IBEW Local 666 Business Manager, Charles Skelly. Thank you Brother.

On to Henrico and Chesterfield next, then the rest of the jurisdiction.

If you are an electrician and want to make Prevailing Wage on every job, I can put you to work today.

I can help 55 of them make the most positive change they will ever make in their working lives tomorrow.

Show me 6 years worth of work history. Show me 6 W2s, 6 check stubs from 6 different Decembers, any official document verifying 6 years of full time electrical construction industry employment, and you can have your pick of jobs making $36.21 per hour, plus full benefits.

That's health insurance for yourself, your spouse, and your dependent children at no out of pocket cost, and retirement which can realistically make you a millionaire depending on your age, all over and above your pay.

Journeyman total package is $53.33 per hour.

Many of these jobs can easily earn you well over $100,000 annually, just on the check.

If you're ready to live a better life, please message me today.

In order to get into our apprenticeship an applicant needs a high school diploma or GED, a driver's license, and they have to get a qualifying score on our aptitude test. I would describe our aptitude test as 9th grade level reading comprehension and math.

Now, don't get me wrong, our area high schools, including those serving the most under-privileged students, are full of kids who meet all of those qualifications.

But, high school seniors and recent graduates who meet the qualifications for our apprenticeship also necessarily qualify to get into any community college in the area, and many of them, perhaps even most of them, can get into many 4 year colleges and universities in the area.

None of that is a problem in and of itself. I think we're all happy that so many options are available to the youth of our community.

The problem is the societal knee-jerk reaction, constantly reinforced by parents, teachers, administrators, guidance counselors, celebrities, politicians, and preachers, that if you can get into college, that's automatically the best choice for you.

Everybody wants to be a part of a rags to riches story, and everybody has drunk the Kool aid thinking the first step in that story is always college.

Then we come in peddling some bitter medicine.

 I know our apprenticeship directors never word it as directly as this, but the sad fact is the on time graduation rate among students at 4 year institutions whose parents don't have a bachelor's degree is abysmal. It varies depending on which study you're looking at from 10-27%.

Heck, it's only 42% among students whose parents do have a bachelor's degree.

That's the on time rate, what about the 5 and 6 year graduation rate? It's 50% for first generation students compared to 64% overall.

Six years appears to be as far out as we regularly keep track of. So, flip a coin. Half of these kids will never earn a degree.

It happens. Poor people go to college and work their way into the middle class and sometimes even the upper class. I'm certainly not saying college is useless.

There is no doubt that on average, people with college degrees do better than people without them.

But far too often a kid from an underserved community, who beat the odds by getting into college, and then beat the odds again by graduating college, just ends up another poor person with a college degree.

I have seen a bachelor's degree from VCU hanging on the living room wall of an apartment in Gilpin Court. What did that degree do for that person?

Why do we keep patting ourselves on the back for this?

All these high schools care about is their graduation rate and what percentage of their graduates go to college.

What happens to you after you get to college? What kind of job can you get after you graduate? They don't even track it, and no one wants to talk about it.

If you can get into our apprenticeship, you can get into college. So, it is just a factually true statement that our apprenticeship must intercept otherwise college bound students.

We'll give you $19.19 an hour plus free health insurance and free retirement on day 1. You'll get 3 raises in your first year. If you start with us as a first period apprentice the day you turn 18, you'll be making more than 21 dollars an hour plus full benefits by the day you turn 19.

You'll be a Journeyman by 22. Right now, Journeyman wage is $36.21 an hour, but it will be higher 4 years from now.

If you get married and have children, your spouse and children will have free health insurance as well.

If you work with us until you retire, it is all but a foregone conclusion that you will retire as a multi-millionaire.

There is one and only one career path on this earth that is available to a kid who grew up with nothing, and virtually guarantees a path to the middle class. That's a Union building trades apprenticeship.

You don't go into debt with us. As a matter of fact, we go in the hole training you. We invest in you, because we believe in you. Who else is doing that?

I went to college. It was the dumbest thing I ever did. And I've done some real dumb things. Our apprenticeship is littered with 25 year olds, 35 year olds, and 45 year olds with degrees on their walls and crippling debt.

If you are a young person, trying to figure out your path in life, I urge you to apply to every union building trades apprenticeship in your area.

If you live in the Richmond area and you are interested in electrical work, apply online today at www.rjatc.org

That's the headline.

If you can show me 12,000 hours of electrical construction industry work history, that's six years of full time employment, I can put you to work immediately making $36.21 per hour, free health insurance for your whole family, and extremely generous retirement entirely funded over and above your pay.

We've got calls for 53 Journeymen in the hall at the moment, to a wide variety of contractors, at a wide variety of jobsites, in various parts of town, working various schedules.

You can have your pick of what's available.

You can show me work history this weekend, and we can have you a job first thing Monday morning.

We take W2s, 1099s, check stubs, letters from employers on company letterhead, any official document.

We anticipate needing hundreds more people in the coming months.

Most of these jobs are long term.

We have huge jobs that haven't started yet.

I know you're not making what we make.

There's no reason you can't.

If you're ready to live a better life, please message me today.

Organize. Organize. Organize.

That's it.

When the same percentage of the people who do what you do are informed, active, motivated, union members, as the people who can strike for 3 days and get a 60% raise are, then you will be able to do that too.

That's all there is to it, and you won't be able to do it a day sooner.

How could you get this?

A good first step for you would be forming a union in your workplace, or quitting your non-union job and getting a union job.

If you're an electrical worker in the Richmond Virginia area and you're ready to do either of those things, please message me today.

Unless you have already received a Journeyman classification from us, the only way we can refer you to one of these jobs is after you get a qualifying score on our Journeyman Examination.

If you can document 4 years of electrical construction industry work experience, you are qualified to take our Journeyman Examination.

A state Journeyman or Master's License, or a certificate of completion from a registered apprenticeship satisfies the work history documentation requirement.

Other than that, we accept W2s, 1099s, check stubs, and letters from previous employers on company letterhead.

If you are struggling to gather work history, contact me and I can help you.

I always say, our test isn't designed to separate the best electricians on earth from everybody else. It's designed to separate Journeymen from everybody else.

If you are working at a Journeyman level out in the field, you should pass it.

We have the test available in Spanish as well.

Once you get a qualifying score on the test, you are immediately classified as a Journeyman in our local.

If you happen to complete the test before 4:30 on a weekday, we can refer you then and there to a job making $36.21 per hour, plus full benefits, if we have any available (we've got about 30 available right now.)

If you're a non-union electrician in the Richmond area with at least 4 years experience and you're ready to live a better life, please message me today.

Management is nothing without labor.

A strike happens when management forgets that.

The cold hard fact is that most American workers can't effectively strike.

If you work in an industry which is majority non-union (that's almost all private sector industries) and/or has low barriers to entry, a strike will be less effective for you because of both the participation rate, and the ease your employer will find in hiring scabs.

Some industries lend themselves well to effective strikes.

If you are among the overwhelming majority of American workers who can't effectively strike, it's all the more important that you support strikes which can be effective. Especially if they're striking over issues which also directly affect you, like wages not keeping pace with inflation for instance.

The more inconvenient a strike is, the more effective it is.

If you don't support a strike because it might inconvenience you, you're saying "I don't support that strike because it might be effective."

There's no reason that managers, pencil pushers, glorified salesmen, board members, and CEOs should make more than front line workers in any industry.

As a matter of fact, there's no reason the front line workers shouldn't be the board members and CEOs.

That's all just stuff we accept because it's always been that way, but there's no law of nature saying it must be that way.

If the industry you work in can afford it, there's absolutely no reason the workers of that industry shouldn't be downright rich. And there's no reason to accept that it should be people in suits who unilaterally determine whether or not the industry can afford it.

A strike, especially an inconvenient one, provides a good window into which side a person is actually on.

The things I love most about working in the IBEW are the freedom and independence, the earning potential, and the Brotherhood.

These three aspects of the life of an IBEW Journeyman Inside Wireman are pretty much unparalleled in any other job, including IBEW organizer, I might add.

There is no worker more unconstrained.

The IBEW removes all the excuses from your life.

You can do what you want, go where you want, work however much or little you want. Your fate is entirely in your own two hands.

If you're a non-union electrician, we like to say it's the same work for more money. That's absolutely true. But it really is an entirely different culture.

We are welcoming, but in most cases, it will take you some months at least to fully learn our ways, and it will require a little proactive effort on your part.

In most cases, I can walk in any building, look up at the ceiling, and tell you whether or not it was IBEW electricians who wired the place.

We have different values than non-union electricians, and they reveal themselves even in the work we install.

That's not because we're better than non-union electricians. That's because the values in a non-union environment tend to come from the top down and benefit only those at the top.

Our bosses only care whether or not the customer's check clears. The craftsmanship is on us.

That's before you even get into how we treat each other.

It's really all respect. Respect for the craft, respect for one another, respect for the Brotherhood.

Coming from the average non-union environment, it really will be an entirely different set of expectations placed upon you, even though it's the exact same work.

But you can do it, and we will help you along the way. And the rewards for doing it really just aren't available anywhere else.

If you're a non-union electrician, you will live a better life as an IBEW electrician. I guarantee it.  But there's more to it than what you're used to.

If you're ready to live a better life, please message me today.

I want in the apprenticeship, no prior experience. Willing to take a pay cut but am concerned without the apprenticeship program I’ve heard CW’s are the equivalent to temp work and don’t get the time of day from people on the job. I am reliable, hard working and feel like this could be a good opportunity to show my value to the local.

Do you recommend getting hours in as a CW with a pay cut or waiting my turn for the apprenticeship?

It is common knowledge among all who care to know about such things, that in the IBEW, especially when it comes to the "big jobs," regularly scheduled overtime is the norm.

And I don't mean 41 or 42 hours a week. I mean 48, 50, 60, or sometimes more.

It is also common knowledge among all who care to know about such things, that one of the founding principles of the IBEW, one of the Objects of our Constitution, is to reduce the daily hours of labor.

How have we arrived at this contradictory position?

Well, like most things, it all comes down to marketshare.

I often say that our Objects are like an instruction manual. You have to follow the steps in order. Our first Object is to organize every electrical worker. Our founders understood that we can't accomplish any of our other Objects in any meaningful way until we have accomplished the first one.

If 75% of the electrical workers in a given local market are non-union, and they're just champing at the bit to do your work, with no guardrails in place whatsoever to protect workers, you don't really have the negotiating leverage necessary to impose major change on the market.

If customers want us working 60 hour weeks, until all (or at least a significant majority) of us electrical workers speak with one voice, that’s exactly what they're going to get.

If the 25% of us who are union refused to, they'll just go get somebody else to do it.

We aim to reduce the daily hours of labor through our overtime rules. Our employers have come to view those simply as a cost of doing business, and many of our members are eager to work as much overtime as possible. Who can blame them with the cost of living these days?

Reducing the daily hours of labor is a generational endeavor.

We're laying the foundation right now, or maybe we're already framing walls, I don't know, but meaningfully reducing the daily hours of labor is like sweeping the finished floor. We're not there yet.

Anyway, we're working toward it.

Hi everyone!

So my girlfriend has applied to start the union inside wireman apprenticeship/school in January in RVA and is going through the process.

She is taking her aptitude test shortly and continuing from there… they have mentioned she can call and Mondays to see if any work is available as a construction wireman (excuse me if I don’t get all the terminology correct please!) so she can start accumulating hours… they have told her this will be useful in getting accepted to the inside lineman program (ie boost her chances.)

However, we have bills to pay and children… and can’t afford for her to only have sporadic work until January rolls around. Her job is not the type to be super flexible with when she can work.

My question is, how imperative is it for her to start accumulating hours early? If she makes a high score on her aptitude test will it hurt her too much getting accepted into this program if she just plans to begin in January?

Thanks!

• A concerned gf trying to ease some anxiety ☺️

If you are among the roughly 75% of electrical workers in the Richmond area who is non- union, and you have at least 4 years of experience, I hope you're making over $100,000 a year.

I hope you have health insurance for yourself, your spouse, and your children that you don't have to pay for.

I hope you have a retirement that can make you a millionaire that is entirely funded by your employer.

I hope nothing comes out of your check for benefits at all.

That's what you can have with us.

You're not making $60,000 are you?

50?

Please tell me you're at least making half of what you could make with us.

The door is open Brothers and Sisters.

We'd love to have you.

We've got work coming out our ears.

If you're ready to live a better life, please message me today.

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I've danced around this matter using indirect language in the past, but heck with it. The extent to which there are pertinent issues which can't be openly discussed is the extent to which I will fail to organize the jurisdiction of IBEW Local 666.

Undocumented workers are the most vulnerable people in the labor force. Unscrupulous employers throughout all industries are eager to take advantage of them, and they do it every day.

It is not the undocumented worker who drives down the standard of living for the documented worker, it is the undocumented worker's employer who does that.

The cold truth of the moment is that if you don't have the legal right to work in the United States, you cannot work for the employers of IBEW Local 666.

We can help you though, if you are being taken advantage of.

If you receive a 1099, and you do not run a legitimate contracting company, your employer is breaking the law.

If you are paid cash, your employer is breaking the law.

If there is ever a situation where you are not paid time and a half for hours worked over 40 in a week, your employer is breaking the law. Even if they "trade" you paid time off.

If you get paid for your straight time by check, and your overtime by cash, your employer is breaking the law.

If your employer is withholding part of your pay, for any reason, they are probably breaking the law.

If your employer is not providing drinking water, from a fountain, covered container, or single use bottle, they are breaking the law.

If your employer is not providing you with the appropriate training or equipment to do your job safely, they are breaking the law.

None of these violations of the law, by your employer, have anything to do with your status.

Depending on your situation, you may be due significant restitution.

You will not have to speak directly with any authorities.

There are ways you can be kept completely safe, and we can put you in touch with people who specialize in that.

We are not here to hem up workers. Our only concern is improving the lives of workers.

If you or someone you know is performing electrical work in the Richmond Virginia area, and being victimized at work, please message me today.

In August of 1981 Ronald Reagan broke the air traffic controllers strike, citing provisions of Taft-Hartley. He fired over 11,000 of them and dissolved their union by October.

There were certainly wheels turning in the anti-union machine prior, but this is widely viewed as the beginning of the late 20th century decline of organized labor.

Large private employers were emboldened to take a much firmer stand against their striking workforces, new anti-union strategies began being taught at business schools around the country, unions went from offense to defense.

There were 20 Right to Work states in 1981. By 1983 the unionization rate in America was 20.1%.

In 1985 Idaho passed a Right to Work law. The process took years. It was passed by a republican legislature and vetoed by a democratic governor. It's surprisingly difficult to find detailed information about it, at least on my phone at a soccer game, but it looks like that guy wasn't governor by the time it eventually passed.

In 1985 the unionization rate in America was 18%.

In 1989, under President George H W Bush, the United States entered into trade negotiations with Canada, resulting in a bilateral free trade agreement.

In 1989 the unionization rate was 16.4% in America.

In 1991, still under Bush, the United States entered into trade talks with Mexico, which Canada joined.

In 1991 the unionization rate was 16% in America.

NAFTA passed through both chambers of Congress with bipartisan, but significantly majority republican support, and Bill Clinton signed it. It took effect on January 1st 1994.

In 1994 the unionization rate was 15.5% in America.

In 2001, after a campaign heavily funded by corporate interests, Oklahoma became a Right to Work state through referendum. Democrats opposed the initiative and Republicans supported it, in the deep red state.

In 2001 the unionization rate was 13.3% in America.

The early 2000s (I guess that's what we're calling that decade) was largely devoid of major shifts in regard to organized labor. The steady decline, largely resulting from off-shoring, automation, and the generally pro- business/anti-worker cultural zeitgeist continued.

Indiana Republicans passed a Right to Work law in 2012, fought vehemently by democrats, including a walkout of democratic legislators. That same year Michigan republican legislators also passed a Right to Work law, again fought by democrats and workers, and the republican governor signed it.

In 2012 the unionization rate was 11.3% in America.

Wisconsin's republican legislature passed a Right to Work law in 2015, shenanigans were involved, and there were boisterous protests by democrats and workers. The republican governor signed it. The Economist, a publication which no one would consider liberal, ran an article outlining all the right to work fights titled "Republicans vs Unions."

In 2015 the unionization rate was 11.1% in America.

In 2016 a right wing wave swept across much of Europe and America. West Virginia's republican legislature passed a Right to Work law and the democratic governor vetoed it. The republican legislature overrode the veto the following day.

That same year we elected Donald Trump as president. After winning the election, but before assuming office, Trump publicly insulted a small local union in Indiana and an individual officer of that local, by name.

In 2016 the unionization rate was 10.1% in America. After some fluctuation it sits at 10% as of 2023.

In 2017 the Missouri republican legislature passed a Right to Work law, which was opposed very strongly by democrats and workers. That same year in Kentucky when Republicans took control of the house for the first time since 1920, passing right to work was the first thing they did. The republican governor signed it.

In 2018 the people of Missouri defeated their law by referendum before it took effect.

The Trump NLRB was the most openly antagonistic toward unions since Reagan.

They narrowed the scope of what is considered protected concerted activity under the NLRA.

They suspended all union elections during the early days of covid, and then allowed mail in elections only if the employer agreed to it.

They allowed employers to unilaterally impose discipline without negotiating with the union.

They eliminated the "salty language" protection.

They allowed employers to keep investigations confidential and bar employees from discussing them.

They allowed employers to bar workers and others from their property to discuss and publicize workplace issues.

They narrowed joint employer status.

They made the process of conducting a union representation election longer and more complicated.

The Trump administration encouraged more off shoring through the TCJA.

After the democratic house passed the PRO Act, Trump said he would veto it and it stalled in the senate.

They decreased OSHA inspections.

They tried to exclude student workers from the NLRA.

They kept about 8 million workers from receiving overtime pay by not defending an Obama rule expanding the number of salaried workers eligible for overtime.

He said he would veto a minimum wage increase, stalling it in Congress.

They allowed misclassification of gig workers.

They completely undercut public sector unions eliminating fair-share fees.

They allowed employers to gerrymander bargaining units.

That's all among many other things.

In the run up to the 2020 election Joe Biden told a union worker, who was inarguably trying to pin him down on making a position statement on a subject unrelated to what he was at the event for, that he didn't work for him.

This was an objectively true statement, as that person was not a citizen of Delaware, but certainly created bad optics which some of his detractors have never stopped pointing out.

Joe Biden has a very long history of publicly saying things which created problematic sound bites.

As far as I can tell, the very first thing Joe Biden did as president, literally minutes after taking the oath of office, was to fire the Trump appointed NLRB General Counsel. No president had ever fired an NLRB General Counsel. It was the first thing Biden did.

Very early in his presidency, his administration blocked the keystone xl pipeline. This action eliminated the possibility of several hundred union pipe fitting jobs.

The proposed keystone xl pipeline was a shortening of an existing pipeline, and would have made it cheaper for a Canadian company to export oil to countries other than America. We don't use any oil that flows through that pipeline.

Currently, under President Biden, the united states extracts more oil from the ground than any country ever in the history of the earth.

The only potential competition for Biden in being the most union friendly president in American history is FDR. Many of Biden's republican detractors refer to him as the most union friendly president in American history.

The level at which the Biden administration has worked with unions cannot be overstated.

The NLRB is the most union friendly it's been since Taft-Hartley.

Unions were consulted, and indeed wrote, large portions of the IRA, the CHIPS Act, the infrastructure bill, among many others.

The amount of union work that has been and will be created by Biden signed laws and Biden executive orders is just something that we've never seen before in this country. Non-union workers will certainly get portions of it too, and they'll get it for union wages and benefits.

Biden literally calls presidents of unions when something is about to affect their membership, and if he doesn't get their buy in, it doesn't happen.

In 2024 Michigan, with a democratic legislature and democratic governor, repealed their Right to Work law.

Neither major party in America is perfect on organized labor issues, but it's in the neighborhood of 99:1 favoring one side.

You may certainly have other values which impact your voting decisions. I'm not here to tell you what your values should be or how you should prioritize them. I'm literally just listing facts.

If you want to vote for what's best for organized labor, to act as though there is any question at all of what choice to make, is bordering on disingenuous.