I retired

I finally paid my last month of dues to the IBEW- 40 years was enough. Well,  good luck to all who are still carrying a tool pouch. I had a good year last year working on 4 nuclear outages as an I&C tech- 6-12's, $36-38/hr and about $700/wk tax free perdiem.  ( and I didn't need a BA for any job) IMO, 2013 is going to be a bad year in America. Once the Fukushima  pacific ocean radiation has officially hit the west coast, the economy in California will go into the toilet  and take the rest of America with it. Obama will be fighting for his life when new information comes out that proves his official nativity story is bogus. A lot of people will go down with him. I see those youtube videos are doing a good job teaching hispanics how to be a $15/hr electrician-

New lower paid classifications

Well, it looks like the Inside Wireman's days are numbered. A contractor will be able to hire around two of the new lower paid 'contruction electricians' for every one inside wireman and the IBEW will collect 2 dues instead on one. The writing is on the wall for us. Hopefully, I can get my 300 hours in this year and be able to get my NEBF retirement at 62.

State licenses

Ah, for the good old days. When you were out of work the BA called around and located a powerhouse job for you. Then you showed up at the hall and the BA referred you out to work. No questions about "licenses", either.
Today that yellow ticket plays a backseat to a state issued license. Now if your local is in a state like Indiana or Illinois that doesn't issue liceneses that allows everyone to work in those states as a traveler, but the poor Hoosier electrician is out of luck when he goes to sign the book in a state with licensing. With the downturn in work everyone wants to protect their work and state licenses do just that.

Two year wait for a job in Chicago

I just read a comment on another forum that in Chicago, book one signers are told to expect a TWO YEAR wait for a job! It could be expected that most guys will go bankrupt waiting for that job call. Does the IBEW have a plan to get it's members back to work before that happens?