My first layoff in 2009 was the hardest, but as they say in construction, I had a good run. I can say this casually now but at the time, I was a little angry and I was scared for my family. My daughter was a year old! I had to stay employed to have insurance and to have a steady check coming in. Fortunately, some of the guys that got laid off with me knew where to find employment. Work had dried up in Cincinnati and so I began seeking work elsewhere. When you are unemployed as a Union Electrician, you sign the book at your local union hall. This book is essentially a waiting list to go back to work, and I signed my name behind 400 electricians on a book that wasn’t moving. Don told me I had nothing to worry about because come Monday morning we would meet at the hall and go sign books together.

Monday morning came and we drove to St. Louis, signing books in other locals along the way. There were many uncertainties, but I was in good company. When we talk of brotherhood this is a perfect definition. Don had traveled before, and he was happy to show us the ropes as none of the others in the car had ever traveled for work.Traveling, signing books and taking calls out of town is a different skill set and having Don there to help us through was what being a Union Brother should be. We left Cincinnati around five in the morning and returned around seven at night. There was five us in the car that day. Don and I chose to work right away. We both had families depending on us.

Don and I spent a month out in Collinsville, Illinois. That’s when I really came into my own. We noticed that everyone had their names printed on their hard hats except us. When we asked our foreman about this, he replied, ‘This phase of the job is winding down. You won’t be here very long.” We were disappointed but I tried to shrug it off. I was determined to make the best of it, so I reached for my sharpie. I took my hard hat off and wrote JIMBO on it in big block letters. By the end of the day a dozen people introduced their selves to me. By the end of the week, I was making jokes at lunch and making friends. Being away from my wife and daughter got a little easier. A month on the road went quickly and I was ready to see my family. I had made it through my first time working out of town.

Don and I took one more call together in West Virginia before we parted ways. Don landed a maintenance job at the University of Cincinnati, and I continued seeking work out of town. I was happy for Don and appreciated all the help he was on the road.

Networking while I was out of town is how I found my next job. Don had inspired me and I wanted to pay it forward. I called my buddy Dave who I went through the apprenticeship with. He was looking for work too. “I heard there was some good work in Terre Haute, Indiana. Would like to ride with me and sign their book?” There was a long pause over the phone. Dave sighed, “Yeah I suppose. I haven’t had much luck anywhere else.” When you are out of work it is easy to start feeling very negatively. That is one of the reasons it is important to help each other find work and get back out there. After all being a Union Journeyman Electrician is a big part of our identities. I felt like this was going to be a good call. “Okay, I’ll pick you up in the morning.” I had enough optimism for both of us.

Terre Haute’s book was loaded but moving. With any luck we would be out to work before the end of the year. After a few weeks I began to get nervous. I was really counting on this job. My unemployment was running out and I had to get back to work soon. The first week of January, there was a 12-man call for a coal gasification plant in a small town of Edwardsport. I quickly threw some clothes together, grabbed my tools and then ran to the car. I picked Dave up and we were on our way. That is exactly how working out of town is. One minute you are waiting on the couch for that call and the next you are giving your loved ones a quick kiss goodbye as you run out the door.

Once we finished our safety orientation, the general foreman took 2 of the guys to run conduit. As for the rest of, we became the wire pulling crew. We were a motley bunch. There were two guys from Chicago and two from Detroit. There was a guy from Saganaw, Michigan and two guys from Indianapolis. Three of us were from Cincinnati. There was a lot of personality in our group and we just enjoyed it completely. Our foreman Todd picked us up in a work van and drove us around the site. Todd explained to us that we would be pulling cable through manholes around the entire jobsite. Each location needed one person dedicated to monitor the co2 levels. If the detector set off an alert, we were instructed to evacuate immediately. Monitoring the co2 levels was important but standing there for ten hours was so mundane. We decided that we would rotate who pulled the wire and who ran the monitor to keep it fair.

After a few weeks the crew started to click. On Fridays we would go to a bar or have dinner together. Our foreman was one in a million. Todd had a southern draw with a gravelly undertone. Every morning when we hopped in the van, Todd would start the day off by saying, “We’re going to pull a little wuyr, have a little fun, get down tonight.” Then Todd would give a little chuckle like he was saying it for the first time. We all had radios and gave each other nicknames. Some were appropriate and others were not. We were having so much fun on the job that we didn’t notice we piqued the other crews’ interest. One day we were at the bar and some other guys from the job came over to have a beer with us. They introduced themselves and went on to say they wished they were in our crew. When we asked why, they said we seem like a tight knit group that’s always having fun together. From a distance you look like mannequins. We all started to laugh, and I said, “Yeah, Todd just places us in position every day.” After that, the word spread like wildfire that our crew was known as The Mannequins. I did not appreciate how rare this type of job is. I hadn’t traveled enough to know that clicking like this and having so much fun doesn’t always happen.

I ended up working in Edwardsport for seven months until I could take a call back in Cincinnati. It was tough being away from my wife and daughter so long, but it was a sacrifice I had to make back then. I made enough money to put a good down payment on a new home. this job allowed me to make lifelong friendships and gain a lot of confidence as a Journeyman. The realization that Cincinnati was just a small part of the IBEW really helped shape my approach and attitude. I started my new job at home with a new perspective. The future was looking bright, and I was ready to take on a new challenge.

I’ll see you on the next one.