Excellent information shawneeman and wlrun3,
On the other side of the coin, NMC, Entergy and TVA recognize NRRPT as Poo! Sure they like having techs show up with the credential, and they even like having those little plaques on the wall from the house staff, but it's meaningless at their facilities. If I am incorrect on my observations, then these utilities need to know that their HP contractor supplier, offers no incentives or compensation for it! The utilities can dismiss that situation by saying they simply didn't know, or it's not their business, but it's their house and if the candy jar isn't available to their guest, then they are Piss Poor Hosts! Those utilities must be the missing quarter? Collage Credits, 28 to 32 credit hours, depending on the degree curriculum, is a huge selling point and a nice reason to at least take a stab at it. By the way, I strongly promote the organization, but only as a level of self achievement and very rarely advertise the credential. Yes, I am on the active members list, so I have the right to that opinion, based on my experiences and observations!
Union, am I For, or Against? I'm somewhere in the middle, (sound swishy washy)! JJ brings a lot of knowledge to the forum from his experiences with the IBEW. Sign the cards, get the numbers and take a list of represented technicians to the utilities/contract companies. I believe most technicians hesitate do so, due to the past speculative nature of the contractor industry. If they hear or see my name, I'll never get a job in the future, or limited opportunities! Probably true in the past, but I believe things are much different today! Signing the card is a contract agreement! An agreement that appears to be unavailable to us, which is pretty much how things are run with the contract companies today! Most, if not all may agree, very distasteful! Like I said before, Pay-Per-View, or Pay-Before-View! Walk Outs, Strikes and So On! From my experience, most of the IBEW contracts are formulated under a No Strike Clause! A contract violation if the union strikes, while the company is negotiating! You walk out and the union is going to be on your tail and they do have penalties they can serve against their members!
Actually organizing the technicians industry, is as simply as each technician agreeing to communicate with their fellow technicians! The primary tool of today’s contract companies is Lack of Communications. They really don't want us to talk to each other, in any way, shape, or form! Isolating a techncian and being their buddy, has always been the best method of negotiations. They certainly don't want us to agree with each other on any topic. Lets say fifty technicians make the decision to align themselves and draft a negotiation venue to satisfy the membership, (free of charge and not signing a contract), then stick to it! When the companies call and make their offer, everybody shares the information among the membership! OMG, that would be scary! Technicians having the availability to make informed decisions; all the deals, incentives, wages and perks simultaneously distributed between fifty techs! No more he said, she said, they said, he got, or she got! The ability to see what the variables are vs. the force feed information! I've seen the feedback from the some members who run their own agenda and have great opportunities, good for you! Your probably the model contractor employee, they call, you go! If it hasn't caught up to you yet, it will! For those employees, (without any feedback to my question), have you honestly set your own course, or simply the best course, based on what the company offered?
What kind of influence would fifty technicians have? More than one could probably imagine! Any company, (about ten I can think of), would be more than appreciative of a list of 50 availability, qualified technicians. The number of available opportunities in any given season will probably remain constant; making those opportunities more beneficial would be totally up to the members! Sound like the perfect world? I don't want to make it sound too good to resist, it wouldn't be easy and some sacrifices would probably have to be made, but at least you would have the informed ability to make them!
The industry is currently at the beginning of the HP technician feeding frenzy, (my opinion)! The resurrection of nuclear power, (13 Billion in available US Government Incentives, global warming and 180 flip of some green organizations), has brought it closer to a reality! They know the manpower shortage is going to cause problems at crunch time, especially since we are one of the few disciplines with a specific qualification criteria. I do agree that time is running short for the venue, very short! I believe the anticipated commercial operation of the next generation power plant, is somewhere in 2014, or about 4 years after official ground breaking. If doing business the same old way adds to your security, then by all means continues with their agenda! If you’re looking for a more stable future, then I suggest you find a new one! We have seen lots of information on this threat, good, bad and indifferent! I believe everybody who has posted a comment to this thread is in agreement with one thing, “There is a Necessity for Improvement”!
Have A Great Day, RG!