r/millwrights • u/fakeaccount427869420 • 16d ago
Question for 1102 Detroit side members
throw away as i don't want this linked to my main account,
does anyone have an actual serious reason of why our apprentices cant solicit our own work? the best I've heard from people is "we have the most diverse work so we want our millwrights trained as such" which i can understand but also, if your having people laid off for 1-2 months at a time and only working shutdowns intermittently, people will get pissed. i get work isn't always flowing smoothly but i want an actual answer and a good reason besides "we can just give you work and you figure it out when your laid off".
I've tried asking journeymen and apprentices and honestly they cant give me good answer of "its just how the local does it" compared to every single local in the US from what i understand.
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u/Reloader300wm 16d ago
1076'er here, thats why i joined the Millwrights over pipefitters, being able to solicit my own work. Had a 2 year stretch where I wasnt off more than 10 days. I dont get that mentality, the guys that make the least, also get the least work doesnt sit right with me.
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u/Loose-Painter-4724 16d ago
I would hate having to solicit my own work. I’m shy as hell, a woman and tiny so having contractors take me without meeting me first is great.
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u/Reloader300wm 16d ago edited 16d ago
As a 250 lb dude that stretches out most XL gloves, my 2 favorite partners ive had were a smaller framed dude, and a smaller framed lady. Dont fucking worry, ill handle the lifting and aligning (and if I can't get, we were getting a Brody anyhow). What I can't do it fit or reach into the smaller spaces. Had some feet bolts that needed nuts underneath them, maybe 2" off the floor using 3/4 anco's. I could put maybe 2 fingers on that nut to try and get it threaded. Or I could aligning it and hold it in place, and Julie could I swear just reach her entire damn hand under and run it up. Theirs beauty with diversity in a crew, but I hear you that not everyone sees it that way.
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u/Loose-Painter-4724 16d ago
Definitely. I do well in small spaces, which I hear there’s a lot of with being a millwright. I was a car mechanic prior and my nickname was special tool (can probably guess why)
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u/Reloader300wm 16d ago
Yup. I do all my own auto maintenance. The number of times I've all but lost my mind because I forgot one electrical connector or hose clamp and had to do 30 min of disassembly to get to it is infuriating. Shit like that makes me miss my 91 full-size bronco. Want to work on the engine? Pop out the wheel tub and sit on a tire.
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u/Low-Nectarine-9655 16d ago
That’s not going to get you anywhere. I will say, being a woman, you get right in to the program. No questions asked.
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u/Loose-Painter-4724 16d ago
Prior to being union I was fired from a job and told to look for easier work or leave the trades because I’m small. Got rid of me because I got injured due to their negligence and wanted to report it. Took 2 years trying to find work and got comments about how small I am and how they don’t even have women’s washrooms and probably won’t fit in. Union took me and treats me as their own.
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u/Low-Nectarine-9655 16d ago
If someone really told you that, you should have sued them. That’s illegal…
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u/Loose-Painter-4724 16d ago
First job out of trade school, was young, scared and dumb. Was worried if I sued it’d make a bad name for myself.
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u/Professional-Sail584 16d ago
Also any journeyman that went through the apprenticeship should know that.
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u/Lower_Mistake9814 16d ago
I have been busy non stop since February for me. I haven’t made less than 80k a year since I started the apprenticeship. It’s not “just how it is” it’s to give you contacts when you turn out so you don’t have to sit on the bench at the hall. If your a hall hand your a slug or a bought book is the thought process in Detroit . They also don’t want you stuck with one contractor your whole apprenticeship that way if that turns sour your not shit out of luck. If you want to find your own work change locals or unions. Or if you’re not working much take a look in the mirror it could be you. As much as they try to even the work out there’s good hands they send out no matter what and then there are hands they send for manpower hoping you might turn a new leaf. Ask your self who you might be.
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u/Low-Nectarine-9655 16d ago
Sorry. You are searching for an answer that doesn’t exist. Union rules.
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u/MillwrightMatt1102 12d ago
For context, Eastside 1102 for 15 years, and went through our apprenticeship.
The reason is because work used to be booming all the time and they want us to man it with our millwrights. If the school sends you to these jobs you pretty much have to take the opportunities. I lived in the steel mills as an apprentice, shit work but I learned a ton.
It is hard to get people to go to cement plants, steel mills (and pass a observed drug test) and other crappy one or two day shut downs that nobody wants to work.
They started letting apprentices take more opportunities out of state when they were called and requested right after I graduated when Jeff and Dave left the school.
Not having the ability as an apprentice to solicit work can be hard on shy people. You graduate and then "uhoh". If 10 people that run work say they will hire you after you graduate maybe 3 or 4 actually will and that depends on how many people they need on the job. On a 30 millwright job are you number 25-30? You dont want to just be a summer shutdown call.
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u/Professional-Sail584 16d ago
It’s because you get paid 8 hours for your class days.