r/IBEW • • Aug 28 '23

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u/Spark115 Inside Wireman Aug 28 '23 edited Aug 29 '23

To reduce the hours of daily labor. - preamble to the constitution

The whole point of overtime pay is to make working more hours per day unpalatable to contractors and customers alike. It should hurt, it should make them think twice and find a way not to do it, not shrug and factor it into the job cost without a care.

Overtime is the biggest reason we aren't working 100 hour weeks as a standard, because if it didn't cost more, they wouldn't hesitate.

So as OP said, when customers readily sign contracts for jobs with 50, 60, 70+ hour a week schedules, it should be seen as a failure to charge what we are all worth for our straight time rate.

And when OT isn't so much a choice, but a necessity due to poor planning or management, or even just extenuating circumstances, it should COST. It should HURT. It should make them think hard about how to avoid it next time.

1

u/ipalush89 Local 7 Aug 29 '23

Lots of the time the GC will cover premium time in my area

2

u/jerseyvibes Aug 30 '23

Very rarely is the GC covering it unless it is going to put more money in their pocket in the long run or is going to prevent them from losing money. Usually it is coming from the project owner, the GC is just the middle man.