I heard audio on Hannity the other day and it was men yelling "get out of here you scabs, your hurting our families" at the untility workers from the south. Like others have said, I feel for all those in need but you don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Guess they wanted the work to be done right the first time, instead of having to call a union crew after the fact to fix work done on the cheap.

I heard audio on Hannity the other day and it was men yelling "get out of here you scabs, your hurting our families" at the untility workers from the south. Like others have said, I feel for all those in need but you don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

 

Guess you heard audio from a different situation. Obviously that wasn't the situation in this occasion. Read the links.

All I know is that someone I am working with lives in NJ just south of NYC. As of Saturday they were having to find a hotel room in Delaware for the night/weekend. Lots of power still down in heavily populated areas in NJ. Situation is serious.

All I know is that someone I am working with lives in NJ just south of NYC. As of Saturday they were having to find a hotel room in Delaware for the night/weekend. Lots of power still down in heavily populated areas in NJ. Situation is serious.

 

Yes it is, I have family up there helping out and hearing about it. They also had on TV about how some areas they had to purge the gas lines as there were so many leaks, once you do that those gas lines need to be replaced, it will be later rather than sooner before a lot get power.

That's nothing! Below is a message from a friend on FB who deal with bringing in equipment needed during disasters. He contacted NY officials as he did in NO when Katrina hit, etc... and this is the response he got. In many, many years in this business, he has never received the response he got from NY:

 

Folks I experienced something today from the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES), I have never experienced before especially during natural disaster. I contact each division to offer assist with disaster relief such as fuel storage tanks, diesel and natural gas generators, 60,000 gallon per minute water pumps for flood control, setup staging areas to help homeless. We were going to pickup the supplies and deliver them to the approiprate agencies in New York State. Please read below this is the reply. Now as I recall after seeing numerous Natural Disasters around the globe, you don't cut the hand off that's trying to help you.

 

LAST WARNING! THIS IS EMAIL ADDRESS IS FOR OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT BUSINESS ONLY AND YOUR ARE INTERFERING WITH ONGOING EMERGENCY OPERATIONS YOU ARE BEING REPORTED TO THE NEW YORK STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR LEGAL ACTION!

 

Regional Coordinator

NYS Office of Emergency Management

Region IV - Central New York

(Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, & Oswego Counties)

10 Adler Drive, Suite 103

East Syracuse, New York 13057-1219

Office: 315-438-8907

Cell: 315-529-0781

 

He also says this:

To any Caterpillar or Cummins dealers who are shipping emergency generators if the truck drivers delivering the freight are non union, if the electricans on the ground are non union the local Union halls are stopping the work. This is something you may want consider prior to shipping to New York especially.

^Well, if any of that is true, I sure hope that it all gets reported and figured out, it will be too late for many, but hopefully before the next emergency. Some of my family is in the same line of work as the person you kno won FB, they are in NY and NJ and haven't had any issues.

Guess they wanted the work to be done right the first time, instead of having to call a union crew after the fact to fix work done on the cheap.

 

From the mouths of babes.

From the mouths of babes.

 

If you say so. My uncle, a boilermaker, counts about 90 percent of just that for his income -- fixing the screwups made by non-union workers.

If you say so. My uncle, a boilermaker, counts about 90 percent of just that for his income -- fixing the screwups made by non-union workers.

 

 

I have witnessed construction union labor cost my father in law $900,000 over budget on a building project for his lumber operation. Always 2 sides to a story.

That's nothing! Below is a message from a friend on FB who deal with bringing in equipment needed during disasters. He contacted NY officials as he did in NO when Katrina hit, etc... and this is the response he got. In many, many years in this business, he has never received the response he got from NY:

 

Folks I experienced something today from the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES), I have never experienced before especially during natural disaster. I contact each division to offer assist with disaster relief such as fuel storage tanks, diesel and natural gas generators, 60,000 gallon per minute water pumps for flood control, setup staging areas to help homeless. We were going to pickup the supplies and deliver them to the approiprate agencies in New York State. Please read below this is the reply. Now as I recall after seeing numerous Natural Disasters around the globe, you don't cut the hand off that's trying to help you.

 

LAST WARNING! THIS IS EMAIL ADDRESS IS FOR OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT BUSINESS ONLY AND YOUR ARE INTERFERING WITH ONGOING EMERGENCY OPERATIONS YOU ARE BEING REPORTED TO THE NEW YORK STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR LEGAL ACTION!

 

Regional Coordinator

NYS Office of Emergency Management

Region IV - Central New York

(Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, & Oswego Counties)

10 Adler Drive, Suite 103

East Syracuse, New York 13057-1219

Office: 315-438-8907

Cell: 315-529-0781

 

He also says this:

To any Caterpillar or Cummins dealers who are shipping emergency generators if the truck drivers delivering the freight are non union, if the electricans on the ground are non union the local Union halls are stopping the work. This is something you may want consider prior to shipping to New York especially.

 

This is along the lines of what I heard. WOW!

 

Good Luck to those on the East Coast.

That's nothing! Below is a message from a friend on FB who deal with bringing in equipment needed during disasters. He contacted NY officials as he did in NO when Katrina hit, etc... and this is the response he got. In many, many years in this business, he has never received the response he got from NY:

 

Folks I experienced something today from the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES), I have never experienced before especially during natural disaster. I contact each division to offer assist with disaster relief such as fuel storage tanks, diesel and natural gas generators, 60,000 gallon per minute water pumps for flood control, setup staging areas to help homeless. We were going to pickup the supplies and deliver them to the approiprate agencies in New York State. Please read below this is the reply. Now as I recall after seeing numerous Natural Disasters around the globe, you don't cut the hand off that's trying to help you.

 

LAST WARNING! THIS IS EMAIL ADDRESS IS FOR OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT BUSINESS ONLY AND YOUR ARE INTERFERING WITH ONGOING EMERGENCY OPERATIONS YOU ARE BEING REPORTED TO THE NEW YORK STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR LEGAL ACTION!

 

Regional Coordinator

NYS Office of Emergency Management

Region IV - Central New York

(Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, & Oswego Counties)

10 Adler Drive, Suite 103

East Syracuse, New York 13057-1219

Office: 315-438-8907

Cell: 315-529-0781

 

He also says this:

To any Caterpillar or Cummins dealers who are shipping emergency generators if the truck drivers delivering the freight are non union, if the electricans on the ground are non union the local Union halls are stopping the work. This is something you may want consider prior to shipping to New York especially.

 

While on the surface this seems unimaginable. But I bet the number of people that are trying to take advantage of the situation is off the chart. I would like to think have the goverment officials already had contacts relative to what they believe their needs would be to help with the recovery. They are probably skeptical of outside contractors coming in to these areas just the same as homeowners are told to be very cautious.

I am an electrical lineman and have gone to disaster areas with my company to help restore power. All utility company's have "mutual assistance" agreements with each other all over the country. This means they all know who is going to be called and in what order based on who is effected the most. This planning is continous through out the year and is part of the preparedness that all the utilities take very seriously.

 

So any contractor that just shows up to assist will be met with a lot of scrutiny. Remember that when we are restoring power we are dealing with thousands of volts of electricity and safety is the top priority. So the utilities do not want crews they are not famailiar with because they are not sure of their credibility, training, known work practices, skill level, and just oversall compentency. If these crews from outside the known mutual assistance program are not qualified they are putting themselves, other lineman, and the general public at risk of serious injury and possible death. Because what one crew is doing may affect other crews that are working miles away.

 

I have personally seen crews that look like they are the fly by night, out to make a buck types, me and my crews have absolutly refused to work near them. And yes, I have worked side by side with contactors that were not IBEW but you know the outfit they work for and are familiar with their reputation, know they do it for a living everyday, and know they understand what it means to be a lineman.

If you say so. My uncle, a boilermaker, counts about 90 percent of just that for his income -- fixing the screwups made by non-union workers.

 

There's some give and take to that scenario. There's no doubt, union contractors always supply workers with the correct knowledge-set and know-how to complete their specific task on a jobsite, and non-union contractors cannot always necessarily boast the same. I will stand by that fact to the day that I die. However, that's not to say that there aren't PERFECTLY competent non-union companies out there. It's a matter of doing a little research, seeking out, and finding non-union contractors that do competent work...and they ARE out there.

 

My general contracting company works with both union and non-union companies willingly. However, I can say this:

• I have never had a building schedule bust because my non-union contractors were picketing and refusing to do work.
  
• I have never had non-union workers bullying or harassing union workers on my jobsite simply because they had contrasting views on workplace organization.
  
• I've never had non-union workers on my jobsite damaging the completed work or materials of union workers simply because they had contrasting views on workplace organization.
  
• I have never had a non-union company picket my office because I am using a union contractor for a project whose bid came in lower than theirs on bid day.
  

With all four of those statements, I can't say the same thing about union contractors.

 

Another little interesting aside about picketing: Every single time I've had my office or a jobsite picketed, the men working the picket line were non-union laborers hired by the union to stand on the picket line. They couldn't afford to pay the members of their local the wages they required to work the line.

If you say so. My uncle, a boilermaker, counts about 90 percent of just that for his income -- fixing the screwups made by non-union workers.

 

If you say so. My family's experience is very different, Including my father who was union for 35 years. However, I won't insult an entire industry of union workers based on his opinions.