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Wireman · Union guide · 2023 NEC ·

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Union guide

How the referral system works, what to bring when you travel, your rights on the job, keeping your benefits on the road, and where to find the official rules. Plain answers, with the details that vary by local called out.

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One rule first: every local has its own written referral procedure and agreements, and they win over anything here. This guide explains how things usually work so you know what to ask. Your hall posts its referral rules; read them once.

The books, explained

The books are the hall’s out-of-work lists. When a contractor calls for hands, the hall dispatches from the highest-priority book first, and within a book, in the order people signed. It has to follow the written rules, the same for everyone.

The groups

Most inside agreements use a standard referral procedure with four groups. The exact requirements are in your local’s procedure, but they usually look like this:

  • Book 1: journeyman experience (commonly four years in the trade), a passed journeyman exam, and recent work under that local’s agreement in its area. Usually the local’s own members.
  • Book 2: the same experience and exam, without the local work history. This is where most travelers sign.
  • Books 3 and 4: less experience or other qualifications. Rarely dispatched unless the first books are empty.

Staying on the book

  • Re-sign on time. Most locals make you re-sign on a schedule (often every 30 days; some weekly, by phone or online). Miss it and you drop off the list.
  • Turning down calls. Many procedures let you pass on a few calls before you go to the bottom. Know your local’s number before you start passing.
  • Short calls. Calls expected to last only a short time (often 10 working days or less) usually let you keep your place on the book.
  • Quits and terminations. Quitting or being fired for cause can keep you from re-signing for a while. Get a layoff or termination slip when a job ends; many halls ask for it.

Think you were skipped? Ask the hall to show you where you are on the list, then talk to your business agent. A union has a legal duty to run referral fairly.

Traveling

Before you go

  • Call the hall or job line. Ask whether they’re signing travelers, which book you’d sign, and whether you can sign remotely or must come in.
  • Check the state license. Many states require their own journeyman license or a reciprocal one; look it up with the state licensing board before you drive.
  • Read the calls. Data centers, refineries and federal sites often need extra cards or background checks.

What to bring

  • Your IBEW card and a current dues receipt (paid up).
  • Photo ID, and a passport or birth certificate if a call needs proof of citizenship.
  • Your state license, OSHA 10 or 30 card, and anything the call lists (TWIC, NFPA 70E, first aid, welding).
  • Your last layoff or termination slip.
  • Your own tools, as the agreement lists them.

Dues on the road

You keep paying dues to your home local. While you work in another local’s area you’ll usually also pay working dues there, often taken out of your check as a small percentage of wages.

Etiquette

  • You’re a guest. Book 1 is the local’s own members, and they go first.
  • Be early, work safe, and do work you’re proud of. The next traveler’s welcome depends on you.
  • Stay out of the local’s politics and don’t run it down to anyone.
  • When you’re laid off, tell the hall and re-sign right away if you’re staying.
  • Sign up for reciprocity on day one (next section).

Your rights on the job

Weingarten rights

If a supervisor questions you and you reasonably believe the answers could lead to discipline, you can ask for your steward or another union representative to be there. The catch: you have to ask; the employer doesn’t have to offer. Once you ask, the employer has to bring in a rep, stop the questioning, or let you choose to go on without one. Don’t refuse to attend the meeting; ask for the rep and don’t answer until they’re there.

“If this discussion could lead to discipline, I want my union representative present. Until then, I’d rather not answer questions.”

Stewards and grievances

  • Take a problem to your steward first. They know the agreement and the people.
  • Agreements have short deadlines for grievances. Speak up quickly.
  • Write it down while it’s fresh: what happened, the date and time, who was there, and what was said. Keep your pay stubs.
  • Short on your check? Wrong rate, hours or overtime? Tell the steward or business agent and bring the stub.

Safety

  • You can raise a safety problem with the foreman, steward or the hall, and file a complaint with OSHA. Firing or punishing you for it is against the law.
  • If you’re punished for a safety complaint, the deadline to file a retaliation complaint with OSHA is short (30 days). Don’t wait.
  • You can refuse a task that puts you in imminent danger of death or serious injury when you’ve asked to have it fixed, there’s no time to get OSHA out, and a reasonable person would see the danger. Stay on site and do other work unless you’re sent home.

Talking about pay

Talking with coworkers about pay, hours and conditions is protected by federal labor law, union or not.

Pension and benefits reciprocity

Your benefits come from two kinds of plans, and they travel differently.

  • The National Electrical Benefit Fund (NEBF) is national. Contributions go there wherever you work, so it follows you on its own.
  • Local plans (pension, annuity, health and welfare, vacation) belong to each local. Work out of town without signing up and your contributions stay in that local’s plans. You may end up with small, separate benefits, or lose health coverage at home for being short on hours.

Sign up for reciprocity

  • Most IBEW benefit funds take part in the industry’s pension and health reciprocal agreements, which send contributions back to your home funds.
  • Sign up as soon as you start a job out of town. Many funds use an electronic reciprocal transfer system (ERTS); your home fund office will tell you how.
  • A few weeks in, check that your home fund shows the hours. If it doesn’t, call the fund office with your check stubs in hand.

Per diem and pay

The highest scale isn’t always the best job. Compare what you take home:

  • Hours and overtime. 60 hours at a lower scale can beat 40 at a higher one. Check whether overtime is time and a half or double.
  • Per diem. Read whether it’s paid per day worked or every day, and whether it comes on your check (usually taxed) or separately. A tax professional can tell you what applies to you.
  • The cost of being away. Rent or a camper spot, meals, and gas for the trips home.
  • State income tax. It changes take-home a lot. Some states have none (Texas, for one).
  • The total package. Pension, annuity and health contributions don’t show on your check but add up over a career. Each local’s page lists them.
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Official resources

  • IBEWThe International: constitution, news, districts and local contacts.
  • NECAThe contractors’ association that signs inside agreements with the IBEW.
  • Electrical Training ALLIANCEThe joint IBEW-NECA apprenticeship and training organization.
  • NLRBYour rights under federal labor law, and where to file an unfair labor practice charge.
  • OSHAWorkplace safety rules, and where to file a safety or retaliation complaint.
  • Your local’s page on WiremanIts job line, website and posted calls.

Your local’s bylaws, referral procedure and agreements are the final word. Ask the hall for copies.

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