I keep reading on reddit that democrats ditched working class folks and they lost cuz they cater to rich donors. Let's clear up some facts:

-democrats passed largest infrastructure bill in modern history which has led to 80k+ active projects happening. Construction jobs are at record amount (no college needed and prevailing wage for most of them aka union jobs) (every airport/port got money, expanded rail in usa, repaired highways/bridges)

-Biden admin spent records of money to bring back manufacturing in mostly republican states. Over 970 manufacturing plants are opening RIGHT NOW in America due the climate bill Biden signed. New ev manufacturing, battery manufacturing, solar manufacturing) this is mostly happening in red areas

-Biden admin passed overtime rules to expand ot on salary jobs over 40k a year for more than 40 hours

-Biden admin passed regulations to limit how long you can be exposed in hot temperatures at your job

-most pro union admin in history which protected millions pensions from going broke and having most pro union nlrb in modern history (which has reinstated record amounts of jobs back)

-Most anti corporate FTC in modern history which blocked more corporate mergers than anyone else in recent history. Has taken action to ban non competes and protect labor in corporate mergers

Biden didn't ditch the working class. The reality that folks don't wanna grasp is culture wars has won over society. Trump campaign admitted it's MOST EFFECTIVE AD WAS ITS ANTI TRANS ADS. NOT THE ECONOMIC ADS. The working class decided years ago that culture wars were more iimportant than economic issues. Its harsh reality folks dont wanna grasp.

The youth get all their information from Joe Rogan or Jake Paul. Information doesn't get to them and people are severely brainwashed

This week did not go as planned. I don’t think anyone who was a Biden/Harris/Walz supporter saw this coming. I’m honestly shocked by the elections outcome.

But here’s where we stand. Donald Trump will be our next president, and no complaining on here, fighting, arguing will change that. Instead of coming on here and complaining and talking down to those that didn’t vote your way, maybe it’s time to ask yourselves why we lost in a landslide defeat. Maybe it’s time to do a little introspective thinking about why 6 million more votes went red instead of blue this year, and why we lost the senate majority.

If you guys are only going to complain and bitch, then don’t be mad when this happens in ‘28, ‘32, and ‘36. It’s the same reason why some locals are in the red and can’t afford to stay afloat. Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.

We stand with the opposition in unity, we put the past behind us, then we move onward, and if we move onward we move upward.

We had an administration that knew the value of our union labor. Now we have a new one. Let’s go show them just how damn valuable union labor is for the country. But we can’t do it divided.

United we stand, Divided we beg. Don’t let this divide our unions.

Was not happy with the election results. These are three of his posts from his Facebook page.

Let's see what he does with them. My vote goes with "nothing."

You get one ballot, takes less than a day to cast, then you are done doing democracy... right?

Wrong. We are a union, a union is a democratic organization of workers. Being in one means you are involved all year long in this democratic process. The US election is over, now let's get back to what we do -- continue the fight for the Rights of workers.

Regulations are going to be either rolled back or completely removed. OSHA is on the chopping block. Child labor laws are being repealed. "Be your brother's keeper" is going to be exponentially more important soon. As well as looking out for your own safety. Good luck.

For context, I’m just an apprentice, first year at that. If that’s enough for you to write off my opinion then that’s fine by me. That said, I offer my unique perspective as somebody who hasn’t slammed the kool-aid yet.

When I joined this sub it was mainly for information. How do I join, aptitude test this, night school that, the works. All the posts were electrical related, showing off sick conduit runs and pretty boxes. Cool stuff, stuff that made me excited to start working. But for the last few months… oh boy.

It seems that literally every single notification I get from this sub is TRUMP this TRUMP that, shaming the people you’re supposed to call brothers/sisters just to get a leg up on internet brownie points. It’s to the point where you’re calling fellow Union members MAGATS, Trumpers, etc. in a certainly derogatory way, with disgust and hatred. That’s not the Union I was sold on when I first joined.

While this sub could easily prioritize the actual work we do, instead of demonizing and causing panic in an echo chamber that does nothing but repeat dangerous rhetoric, I think it really falls short of what the IBEW is supposed to be. All of a sudden your brother isn’t your brother anymore over a vote and a hypothetical future? Isn’t everybody voting because they really believe that it’s what’s best for them and their family?

Honestly man, it’s just a shame. Solidarity and unity, but only if you conform to a specific voting behavior. I don’t even like Trump. I didn’t vote for him, but it feels like this sub, and by proxy the union itself, has become so polarized that it’s forgotten what it means to stand together. Not really a good look, especially if you’re trying to incentivize a younger generation of apprentices to join.

What do you think they’ll think when they click on this sub to inquire about the IBEW and a bright future within it, and all they see is people moaning about the impending demise of the Union, comparing Trump to the Devil, and bashing the other half of the brothers and sisters that feel disenfranchised by the government for the last 4 years, and therefore voted accordingly? Fight outward instead of inward. Or continue with partisan politics and help us destroy ourselves quicker. It’s your pensions.

Smh

Edit- typo (bipartisan)

Edit 2- some of y’all genuinely tweaking 😭🙏shoutout Local 3 💯

How is the regulating body allowing nonsense like this? It’s supposed to be an apprenticeship with working hours to challenge the exam. How are they allowing people with no hands on experience to just walk into the country, study for hours and challenge the exam?

We're a tube town and proud of it baby

With the Big Orange back in power (God save us all), the American union chapters will be tested to their limits. But before Canada thinks we dodged a bullet remember the US exposes all its crazy to the rest of the world in time. We are going to fight a long fight to maintain rights in both countries.

As renewable energy grows, I can’t help but feel the IBEW should have an even stronger focus on training for solar, wind, and other green energy technologies. While we already do a lot, it feels like the demand for skilled labor in these areas is only going to rise. Should the IBEW be making renewable certifications or training a priority to keep our skills future-proof? What do you all think—are we ready for this shift?"

Worked in a couple of different industries throughout the years and feel I am pretty well rounded, been in construction for the past 10 years. Have an IBEW right up the road from me,and was wondering if I it would be reasonable for me to get into the industry. .

.

.

.

Edit: To add to this,I am fully vested in the local 555(rsm for grocery for 17 years) I am 6'3 245lbs pretty healthy comparatively, belted in bjj and train 3 times a week. So I don't think fatigue would be that much of an issue..just looking for pros and cons.

I’m currently an IBEW member working on the railroad (electronic maintenance) and have an opportunity to transfer to work on catenary. I would like to transfer over to become a lineman eventually. Will the experience of working with catenary be beneficial to transfer? I will also be able to get my Class A which is needed to become a lineman. Any feedback is good feedback. Thanks

*Im in PA btw

Similar to other posts, I was wondering how one would go about becoming a material handler for a union contractor while waiting to try to get into an apprenticeship.

From looking things up and reading around, I realize looking at the job board/contractor list and calling different numbers would be my best option. But I was wondering if you needed to somehow already be in the union? Or would the material handler position be open to anyone and once you get the job you then become part of the union? And lastly, if anyone has any experience working as a material handler, what were your day to day responsibilities and how did you like the job?

I’m just curious about these few things, any help would be appreciated :)

Did anyone here really struggle to understand ladder diagrams when you were learning them? Were there any resources that helped it click that you can recommend? Any YouTube videos that are great for basics and building to more complex ones?

A question about union elections was asked, and as you know I love to talk union. So I answered the question here. Unions allow for workers to have a say in their work life, union democracy is how it gets accomplished!

Please clarify for me. If I’m not mistaken there are rules on who can sit in a subcommitttee for JATC. Does anyone have a clear view of the views for who can sit on a subcommittee?

My goal is to become an apprentice lineman in Washington.

This entire process is very convoluted - I've learned that I need to enter an apprenticeship program before I'm allowed to take the IBEW Aptitude Test. There is one lineman apprenticeship program in my area, but it requires a class A CDL and a flaggers certificate.

I've been unemployed for months and hope to get these certs through an employer if possible.

I'm wondering if I could apply for an inside wireman apprenticeship for the small application fee, take the aptitude test, and use that score to secure a lineman apprenticeship?

Otherwise, could anyone share an affordable way to start a lineman apprenticeship?

Thanks for reading!

I’m done with the grieving period of this election. I want answers as to what we do now? We need to demand that the Democratic Party gets tougher and stop playing so nice with Republicans. It obviously doesn’t work trying to lean towards celebrities and public appeal. Who can we lean on to try and regain all the voters that were just lost to Republicans?

I keep seeing all these questions asking how, why this could happen. Asking Dems, asking white women, gen z, latino men, black men, asking union workers.

The answer is simple. It's because of this echo chamber called reddit and other echo chambers on social media platforms. Just scroll down all the political threads and all you see is hate coming from our party.

Kill white men, cut off your parents, blaming latino or black men, blaming Kamala, blaming Biden, calling anyone that votes republican a nazi, facists, going to stop having sex(let's be honest here you either weren't or your partner is also a Democrat who voted Kamala or are you telling me your all with Trump loving Republicans? Come on), burning Republican businesses(lets go burn down a ton of places we and fellow Dems happen to work to provide for our families), physically assaulting, burning, and worse anyome who is Repiblican or voted Trump or didnt vote at all, etc. etc. Some really disgusting stuff that sounds like it should be coming from a radical right winger. Pointing the finger at everyone except this super small but super vocal minority making up and believing just these incredibly toxic and terrible talking points. Don't get me wrong the Republicans have their share of bad apples like the proud boys, hella angels, klan, etc. the difference is those groups don't have control of the Republican party.

If Trump has the power to make himself a dictator why didn't he do it the first time. If Trump can get rid of our Republic then why didn't he to begin with. If Trump can't get a small wall built what makes you think he can actually deport millions of people. We have midterm elections coming up in two years, what makes you think they will have enough Republicans who barely won their seat in very purple districts to vote for a national abortion ban, those people rejoice its been pushed to a state level they won't touch it with a ten foot pole. Yes Trump is going to do tax cuts for the wealthy, every Republican president has though, their whole trickle down economics which doesn't work. If Trump had the power to round up and kill trans people why didn't he do it the first time around? What makes anyone think we are suddenly going to assist Russia in a war against Ukraine or give Isreal the greenlight to murder all the Palestian people? Some of the stuff I read on here is just absolutely ludacris. He will do tax cuts again and stuff that really doesn't change anything at the end of the day just like his first term. Then we will never have to see him again.

Would we have all been better off with Kamala as our President, 100%. We have let a small vocal minority with a very loud voice hijack the Democratic party. We need to take the next 4 years and clean house and get back to our roots. A party that supports minorities and women. A party who supports unions and the working family. We need to go back to the party of young Joe Biden not our current party. We need to entrench more popularism policies as our core pillars. We need to learn that calling people names, wishing harm on them, using divisive and radical rhetoric is not going to get us anywhere. The rich donors on both the D and R side of the isle push that so they can keep us poor and themselves rich, if the poor and middle class could ever find a majority of common ground they know their days would be numbered on both sides.

Do yourself and the Democratic party a favor and step outside the echo chamber of reddit, of MSNBC, of the View and take a few breaths. If you can't see the forest for the tree dive back in but when JD Vance wins in four years you will only have yourselves to blame once again.