Been working for this company since I graduated high school so I don’t know how it feels to work for a better company. But I know this isn’t what life is supposed to be like. Over worked, exhausted and forever on a surplus list.
22 replies (most recent on top)
1963huh? I bow and concede to your knowledge and experience. I’m west coast. So I’m speaking from a 1978 time period. Old timer, you can’t still be on payroll, retired for 15yrs? Either way, times have truly changed. Long gone is the old tricks of the trade passed down from tech to tech. As a old splicer, I don’t think opening a lead sleeve is as easy as it could be. Best wishes and good health to you old timer. Nothing but respect.
@2paa, not wrong. speaking from my experience from 1963 forward and hearsay prior to that..may have been different for your area
Looking at this thread, I really hope my interview with Entergy goes well.
@11doZQP5-2zfy
Those sentiments are the exact reasons all the outside field techs argue and don’t respect each other’s job titles.
@11doZQP5-1ock
“ there was also no such thing as hiring on into splicer or repair.”
You’re wrong. Pacific Telephone Company hired from the streets OPT’s, Splicing and I&R in 1979 & 1980. I&R hirings continued thru the early 80’s. Splicing stopped hiring from the streets by 1982.
@1lda, every job title out here provides the potential to work your a$$ off every day. Back in the day(from the beginning up to the 70s, etc) line work was definitely more labor intensive. Nowadays with bucket trucks, Polaris Rangers, and electric drills, line crew isn't nearly as labor intensive as it once was(most linemen today wouldn't know a brace-n-bit if it bitem on the @$$.) Save it, I know the bucket and the UTV can't get you eveywhere, I'm just saying that in general today's line work is not as labor intensive as it used to be. Also, the numbers aren't pushed as hard on Construction as they are I&M( luckily management has always dealt with rear easement and rough terrain without hassling us much about it). Remember, when you and 2 or 3 of your line crew buddies are working hard spending day after day hanging rear easement, the I&M tech(a good one) goes out to the same cable a few years later on a maintenance ticket and is slinging his hooks and ladder by his self and only gets about a hour and a half to do so. Also, crawling in an attic or up under houses isn't much fun either. Like I say, every job out there can be labor intensive, some more than others on some days. Just don't think you've got the market cornered on hard work regardless of what title you hold.
@1pmu, lineman used to be entry level job. When you hired on, you hired on in the line crew period. Granted, there was no such thing as a wire tech back then, but there was also no such thing as hiring on into splicer or repair either.
Lineman in the 80s here.
No one ever stole my frost bar, lasher, hooks, butt puller, come alongs, bending straps, dead ends,
Or spools of C wire.
Because those things meant labor.
No tech in the company works harder than I lineman. I’ve had every outside job there is
It’s not even close.
If you don’t agree, please let us know which job is tougher and why.
11doZQP5-1jgz
When I came up... I was a Splicer... ... common joke was Linemen only needed a bale of hay and a bucket of oats... ... but by the same old timers they said Linemen was the hardest job in the Company... they all had the work hard and play hard attitude... only job title that took problems to the pole pile out back... punch it out then out front in the parking lot and drink a beer together... ... the linemen I knew put up with Splicers but wouldn’t let them drink their beer... myself and a few others had their respect to be invited to drink every time they traded old poles for a couple cases of beer.... the linemen I knew were loyal friends... had no time for drama and if you disrespected them they’d settle with punches... so the wire tech that disrespected the Linemen would have to back them words up at the pole pile...
@11doZQP5-1pmu
Well said.
These guys have no idea what work is until they’ve:
Dug a hole for a pole or anchor with a shovel.
Pulled a lasher up with a hand line and then place in on the strand.
Work every day at or above the strand six feet below the power line.
Pull in a cable by hand.
Do that then tell me you’re “exhausted”.
@11doZQP5-1hdo
Your reply is total DISRESPECTFUL to all current and former Outside Plant Technicians or Lineman if you will... .... if you’ve done the job... you can talk... if you’ve never done the job you need to keep your ignorant opinions to yourself... ... Lineman have to work in teams.... work as a team... they are physical... they need to be strong and smart... if a Lineman makes a mistake someone can be seriously injured or k–led.... their job is no joke... ... Wire Tech ... well... it’s an entry level job... low pay... anyone can do it ... Lineman climb unstepped poles... Wire Techs do what? Outside Plant Techs are one of the higher paying wage scales in the Company.... So when you want to compare your workload.... compare it to ditch diggers... they work hard too.... ... sweat more and probably work on a comparable pay scale
Spoken like a wire tech. Lol. Keep talking up how much work you do... maybe someone will really believe you.
Love it when the linemen start crying about how hard they had it. You guys don't do half the work of a wire tech. You are given a reasonable workload and given time to do the job well and SAFELY. Wire techs are not.
Talk to a lineman who has been demoted to a wire tech. It's a whole different world.
Got y’all beat. My first day was rough. I was greeted by HR. They took me and the other new hires into a room and welcomed us. They brought in bagels and walked us through all the benefits and how to sign up. Then lunch. Then our supervisors came to fetch us and had a huddle with cupcakes and 2% milk. They assigned a senior person to walk me through the daily/weekly/monthly duties. I made some great friends and am proud of the work we did as a team. We saw each other get married, have kids, parents deaths, and some of us died. Twenty-two years later, most are gone but a handful are left that remember how we succeeded by being human. Just be human...
My job was supposed to be I&R.
In and out. Ride with someone for a while.
But a senior tech (they all were) took the I&R job and I was relegated to the line crew.
And never told.
So hence my 1st day. I was driving g the digger truck pulling the Hawg Davis with a spoil of cable on it.
What exactly do you do and have you done?
Do tell.
@qxt..you're a DA if you hire on in the line crew in Wisconsin in the winter and not dressed propelry. Did you think you had a nice office job?
You new guys are funny.
My first day was in January. In Wisconsin.
Below zero.
Not dressed for it.
Hanging aerial cable. Strand was up. I was pulling the lasher as the newbie.
“Take this rope- pull that way.”
Knee deep snow.
Foreman came out at 2pm and complained we didn’t have more hung- out the window of his heated pickup.
Either you have what it takes, or you don’t.
Whining here don’t pay the bills.
@ bsu. Totally disagree you want to know why you are getting up in the morning and is it worth while and you want to have direction and growth not work for a dying company while the senior management makes out like robber barrons.
I started the week after graduating HS. In 1979.
As a lineman.
Worked a lot. For 38 years.
Nothing new.
frustrated with lack of strategy
You don’t need to know the strategy. It doesn’t affect what you’re hired to do. Keep turning out those widgets.
I think everyone is exhausted and frustrated with lack of strategy along with all our daily fire drills. Hang in there and keep working hard, it will all pay off in the long run. Only control those things within your control and do your job well.
Makes perfect sense. I do hear the grass is always greener on the other side. I'm pretty sure no other large corporation over works their employees or does layoffs. I'm pretty sure AT&T invented it. Not sure how they get away with it. Either way, you are on to something.