Find a local near you...excellent wages...a sound pension plan...good health insurance...representation...they are all over the U.S. stop by or call...new rules taking place in DC that will make it easier for employees to vote to have Union Representation and all the other many benefits

The new deal you are talking about is the free choice Act I didn't know congress had passed it into law as of yet. If you live in and area that has Union jobs then it a plus or PLA's but if you are in tim- buck- to, who cares even in a right to work state most all the jobs are not all union and where does a line pump fall into most likey the Labor's Union.

is it possible for an owner operator to get into the union is it possible? what all is usually need? how would i iam in san diego. please let me know either e mail me or write me or give me a call 619-279-1705 allinsconcretepump@yahoo.com   thank you

Biged...you are right the employee free choice act is yet to be voted on...as far as a line pumps, the operators still claim all concrete pumps...

definitely able to become a member of Operating Engineers being an owner operator...contact the Operating Engineers local in your area...alot of valuable information at IUOE.org

being union is a big money game and way too much for an owner operator. for example i got my friend into the gutter business and he is a high roller so he became the the second person in the state to sign up, well they did not get him any work and he owed some for the wages and stuff so he wanted out of the union but they said no and where going to sue him for enough to make him sell out his business that was a cash cow. moral of the story is do not play another mans game. or make sure its corporate and you are the minumum wage earner. good luck

your right union is a rich mans game if you don't need it where you are stay away as long as possible. I'm in the union and I sure wish I had a 401k instead of my pension (401 is my money forever, I die and the union gets my pension)

Yeah and if you change trades or whatever, bye bye pension. It's a sour subject in these parts.

 The IUOE has never given pump operators our 'due' respect! The fact that I can go run a fork lift for the same wage is a bunch of crap, and the fact that I can go run an excavator for even MORE money is just plain Bull$hite!

 As professional Concrete Pump Operators we wear waaay too many hats to be paid the same as other heavy equipment operators... but as they say, we just push buttons right? 

I am a concrete pump operator and a member of the Operating Engineers...it has been my experience that due respect is given...running a forklift and earning the same pay in my opinion is a plus...that is called collective bargaining...excavator pays the same too...one piece of equipment that pay increases on is a crane...depending on the amount of boom...it has been great for me and many families...pension plan I am in guarantee's monthly benefits...and in case of death it goes to spouse or designated beneficiary(s).

The union is not a company so to speak they don't send work to you,if there is a big project and its Union or has a PLA in place then all trades are of union backing, the operating engineers union cover a lot of difference job titles, pump operators are a very small part, if you TT don't have any repect for the company you work for how can you get any,I'm retired from another union,I'm not a union pumping company cause I don't do enough business and don't go after big jobs its got its up's and down's it would not have saved Pumpco or anybody. Seed is a union company in Maine ask him.

im with tootall on this one we just push buttons but if we get into power lines or turn over is all our fault we are a saftey issue from boom staps to pins to blowing out booms booming inside tight places from short legging legs to going over houses.  ITS A SKILL PAY ME WHAT SAFETY IS WORTH NOT WHAT GOOD FOR YOUR BANK ACCOUNT. SORRY to go on about it v ery touchy subject to me,  Thanks for letting me vent

Raymond that picture will my you dizzie,I think pumpit from Long Island, NY is a Union Shop.

I am not trying to mislead anyone...if the union isn't for you then don't bother, It has been very good for myself and my family and for millions of others...but don't take my word or anyone else's, if you have any questions call the Operating Engineers local nearest you, I am sure they can answer any questions that you would have.

Sadly, the biggest losers in Wa. were the the employees, not the union and definitely not the companies. As far as comparing a pump and an excavator, you can't. Running an excavator on a pipeline job is much harder. After talking to some retiring operators I'd rather have their pension over my piddly 401k. Remember 401k is not a retirement, it was designed to be a supplement to a retirement plan.

ok check it out.. i think for local 12 southern cali that we make plenty hourly and should look into a supplimental pension, i really think it would benefit all the members. face it our pension sucks WE need to do something about it not sit around and wate for it to happen for us. sry old timers im 23 years old i feel we need this.

 I guess I shoulda mentioned that I've been a 302 operator for several years. I'm just bitter about the chunk of change I had to drop to reopen my books after 4 years of being 'inactive' and spoiled rotten doing nothing but shack work. Like the Old Man said, "Pay yer damn dues son!"    

HOW MANY TIMES HAVE ANY OF YOU BEEN IN THE PASADENA DISPATCH? HAVE ANY OF YOU FELLOW LOCAL 12 MEMBERS EVER SEEN A PICTURE OF A CONCRETE PUMP? TALK ABOUT LACK OF RESPECT ALL THE PICTURES ARE DIRT WORK AND CRANE ITS B.S.