Wow! Thanx for the complement, Chic. I don't know if I deserve that, but thanx.

I, too, have had my experiences with union guys. Here in Richmond, Va, they are Local #666. How's that for a number!

We just completed a job doing lighting for a large-scale sculpture (about 100') that will span the interior of a 'skybridge', an enclosed walkway over a street connecting two buildings, for the new Richmond Convention Center.

The artist, Ed Carpenter, hired us independently of the two large electrical contractors (hundreds of employees each) doing the rest of the job, both of which are union shops.

The job entailed installing a 24-circuit, computer-driven lighting panel, a run of about 135' of 4 3/4" conduits to reach the beginning of the bridge, and, spaced along the length of the bridge, 24 individual track-light strips, each with 4 50-watt, low-voltage, high-intensity heads.

The first day we arrived, we received no more than cold glances from the electricians we bumped into, including the ones we had to interact with (because we had to receive three-phase power from one of their power panels).

Apparently, they felt threatened by our mere existence. We lost a fishtape and a 50' extension cord to the job. They just walked away by themselves. (yeah, right!) We considered it to be a small loss, overall.

However, the few guys we bumped into on a daily basis became friendly, and we even lent tools to them a couple of times. Even their foreman became friendly with us by the time we finished the job. I gave him advice on putting together some AV stuff he'd recently bought.

We believe that simply getting to know the individuals we work beside can dispell the concern that we're 'out to take thier work away'. Fortunately, there was no sabatoge to the work we did, and everything powered up and worked right the first time.

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com