Local 2309 Members?

[Dan Dubeau]

I just wrote the aptitude test yesterday for the latest intake, and hoping for a callback interview in the coming weeks.

Anyone here a 2309 Millwright? Or a Millwright period?

 

[Proxule]

Aye cap'n, local 1460

 

[Aliva]

Retired millwright USW local 6500

 

[Rauce]

I am, just finished my apprenticeship officially this month.

Not in the Hamilton local 1916 though, I’m a USW member at my workplace.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

Congrats @Rauce. Sorry, I thought I replied to this to say congrats way back when, but guess I forgot to hit send. Well Done!

Well, an update. A bit of a long process, but I am officially through onboarding, health and safety training and on the list ready for work with Local 2309. #151 as of yesterday, so it will probably be a few more months until I get my first call, and realistically a slow 1-2 years before I might get steady work.

Old Boss was pretty understanding and was happy to keep me on until I got called out plus take me back in between work with the union if I wanted it. Unfortunately they are also VERY slow right now and being that I'm leaving eventually, I rose to the top of the layoff list to keep the other guys busy. That's understandable and I have no issue with it. So while technically I "have" two jobs, I have none right now lol. Only the 3rd time I've ever been laid off in 20 years, so it's a bit of a strange feeling TBH. But nice to take a breather after a very busy past couple years.

I've been catching up on projects around the house for the past 2 weeks, and practicing my welding to eventually get some qualifications. Being part of a trade union is a big learning process for me, but I think this will be very good in the long term. We can't solicit our own work from contractors, so I just have to play the waiting game, go with the flow, wait my turn, and trust the process will work out in the long run. I'm really looking forward to it, and the new opportunities that await me. I was loooong overdue for a change.

 

[Proxule]

Congrats @Rauce. Sorry, I thought I replied to this to say congrats way back when, but guess I forgot to hit send. Well Done!

Well, an update. A bit of a long process, but I am officially through onboarding, health and safety training and on the list ready for work with Local 2309. #151 as of yesterday, so it will probably be a few more months until I get my first call, and realistically a slow 1-2 years before I might get steady work.

Old Boss was pretty understanding and was happy to keep me on until I got called out plus take me back in between work with the union if I wanted it. Unfortunately they are also VERY slow right now and being that I'm leaving eventually, I rose to the top of the layoff list to keep the other guys busy. That's understandable and I have no issue with it. So while technically I "have" two jobs, I have none right now lol. Only the 3rd time I've ever been laid off in 20 years, so it's a bit of a strange feeling TBH. But nice to take a breather after a very busy past couple years.

I've been catching up on projects around the house for the past 2 weeks, and practicing my welding to eventually get some qualifications. Being part of a trade union is a big learning process for me, but I think this will be very good in the long term. We can't solicit our own work from contractors, so I just have to play the waiting game, go with the flow, wait my turn, and trust the process will work out in the long run. I'm really looking forward to it, and the new opportunities that await me. I was loooong overdue for a change.

Unions are not what they used to be, Nice of them to let you work union and non union and still climb the " out of work list "
Don't drink the koolaid too much, if you know what I mean. Keep them doors wide open!

Good luck to you

 

[Dan Dubeau]

From what I was told, I am allowed to work non union as long as I'm not doing Millwright work. A bit of a grey area doing machining work, but considering I was a machinist before becoming union I was told that was OK. I mostly do design and CNC programming these days anyway, so I don't see the problem. If somebody does, then I'll cross that bridge when I get there, and have options that are more black and white. Right now, being out of work from both, I see it as a non issue lol. I think they're pretty flexible for first years too until they start building hours.

I hear ya on the Koolaid. There was a bunch of guys in some of our classes doing re certs so every chance I got was picking their brains about union life, and how things actually were out there. I feel like I got a pretty fair and honest representation of what work will be like, and am totally fine with that. It's not all rosy, and certainly the first 4-5 years I'll be eating a lot of shit sandwiches as I build hours and make some good contacts with contractors, but that trajectory sure beats what I was doing, and where It was heading. 2309 is taking in a large # of 1st years right now, and the attrition rate is high. I just have to ride it out and put the work in when I get my chances.

Being a Toolmaker/Machinist isn't all that rosy anymore either. Pay and benefits (if you find any) have stagnated for years (decades) and are complete dogshit around here. The trade as a whole is under very heavy competition from abroad with no signs of getting better. It's a tough way to make a living, and I don't see a bright future and haven't for a while. I was hoping to get out of it back in 2019, as we were losing a shit ton of work to china back then and the future looked very bleak. Then covid happened and brought all that work back and we've been riding that wave ever since. The past few months it's all gone back to china again. A bunch of it got cancelled too. Some very 2008 vibes again right now, and A lot of tough times on the horizon, but between Millwright and Machinist, I like my chances of being able to finish my career more as a Millwright. Especially around here if I can get into Nuclear, which is what I am hoping to do. A lot of work coming for Pickering and Darlington, and if I can get in on that, I will be very happy. But in the meantime, I'm looking forward to getting into as much varied work as I can get to build experience and learn as much as I can.

As the kids get older, and move out, I wouldn't mind hitting the road chasing shutdown work for a few years too. I used to be pretty adventurous, but planted my feet the past 13 years or so to be home with the family while the Wife built her career. Switching now will grant me that opportunity when the time comes. I'm at a point in my life where we're stable enough for me to take a gamble and see it through.

That's the "plan" anyway. But as Mike Tyson says, everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face .