Service Discussion: How can we do better so that new hands and apprentices don’t fall through the cracks?
Hey brothers & sisters,
I wanted to put a discussion out there about shop dynamics and how we handle dispatch, scheduling, and keeping newer hands working—especially when moving to a new shop or during slow stretches. There’s actually quite a bit in here to chew on and in writing this I’ve stumbled upon more questions than I had at the start, so sorry if this is verbose.
Context: I’m in a pipefitters-only local starting my 4th year with a proven track record, and most of my time has been spent doing pure service work on my own. My first shop was the Wild West and I learned a ton.
After moving to a new shop last February I’ve been dealing with a frustrating stretch myself, sitting at home more than I'd like and haven’t broken 152 hours a month since I started in February. But this post isn't about my schedule, necessarily! I’m trying to asses the bigger picture of how work gets distributed and how easily a hand can slip through the cracks.
I’ve been doing everything right: I’ve talked to nearly all the technicians and established apprentices in the company, keep a "frequent flyers" list that I revisit regularly, and reached out to 8 different guys just since last Tuesday trying to drum up work. Guys throw work my way when they can, and my journeyman has a day for me this Thursday, but it highlights a recurring bottleneck: senior techs and established guys mostly have just enough to keep themselves and their direct apprentices busy, leaving floating hands or new guys stranded.
Given my background - 6 years in power plants and other related union work before becoming a pipefitter, with my first 3.5 years at an industrial refrigeration shop - I know I have the skills to pull my weight. But it’s made me wonder about how these mechanical shops are structured:
- How do your shops handle integrating new hands or dealing with guys sitting on the bench when everyone else is siloed with their own routes and apprentices?
- Are service managers dropping the ball on keeping track of who is sitting at home, or are dispatchers too reliant on techs to self-dispatch their own help?
- What can we do as a brotherhood, and what can I do as a soon-to-be journeyman, to make sure work gets shared and younger guys aren't left drowning or looking for scraps without burning ourselves out? And how do you senior techs treat that extra work load? - at my first shop I was helping younger apprentices over the phone since my 2nd year and always struggle to justify billing it, but I’m sure it has added up over time.
Office folk seem to be far removed from any interest in getting us what we need to be successful, so I feel like the onus is on us field guys to take care of each other as much as we can.
Appreciate any perspective or insight from how things run in your neck of the woods. Stay safe out there.
Side note: I’ve also considered that my shop over hired and that I’m essentially bloat right now. I’ve heard that they have plans to move to a new building and so they could have hired in preparation for some growth within the company. But that doesn’t pay my bills. And before anyone asks, yes I absolutely have contacted my service manager and we’re currently trying to work through this. Last stop is the hall if this situation doesn’t improve.