I am clean now. I got off dope and roxis. I want a fresh start. I am thinking about moving by Patterson or Clifton. I got a friend up there. I was looking in to the local union halls as a possible place to get a job. They pay good and got great benefits.
Anyone a laborer member or iron worker or any trade up there?
Any advice? I really want to do it to be closer to NYC. I love New York as the tourists say. The cost of living in NJ would probably work better for me at first getting established and maybe one day I'll cross over the bridge but for now NJ seems like a good idea.
Lozgod, I aint sure how familiar you are with the way the unions work but you have to actually be in that trade before you get in the union. For example , for welding If you already got AWS cerfification then thats different , then if the unions got the books open, then you might be able to get in but you aint gonna get into a union as somebody with no experience or training. Now I could be wrong and maybe you DO got all that, but you still aint gettin into no unions easily, possibly at all...Ill just tell you the shit I know from talking to people and bein around contractors for alot of my life, for a long time I considered goin into a trade school and was genuinely interested in learnin a trade and gettin into a union, and this is wat I learned when I was lookin into that a few years ago.
First off like i said before, you aint gonna just go in there with no certification or apprenticeship and get into the union. And somethin u gotta realize is that not all the unions are open at any given time. If their books are closed you SOL.
These days the construction industry aint doing so great. I know for example that the masonry trade is goin thru a huge down sizing , and masonry is a high paying great field to be in but right now its real tough. Alot of the trades in contracting/construction and related to that type shit are goin thru similar shit. especially in a time like this they aint gonna be taking on no rookie with no background, experience, or certificate in the trade, if their books are even open they gonna want guys who got a solid history and can prove it. Even w/exp., without somebody to vouch for you, bein out of state n all that, your chances are much slimmer than theyd be for somebody local who got people.
My man did masonry from the time he was 12 years old til his father and brother died in his early 20s, it was their family bizness and his brother had been runnin it after his dad passed. He had over 10 yrs of solid experience. But it was a family bizness, he never went to school for it, he never got certified or nothing like that--He wouldnt be able to get into a union unless he had a "friend" who could set somethin up, your standard NJ "I know somebody" situation.
It can be really hard to get into a union up here in north jerz unless you do know somebody--even if you got the skills and certification. as much as folks might think the mob is dead, they still run a LOT of shit up here in north jerz--and the clifton, garfield, lodi, paterson area is one of the areas that are considered ground zero for mob activity in north jerz. When it comes to construction, contracting, sanitation, etc unions, they still got a big hand in it. So thats one way that people get into the unions, is havin friends , friends of friends, and other relations who can get them placed.
But , I defiantely AINT saying its all mob ran and you gotta be involved like that to get in. Definately not, that aint the situation, Im just pointing out that alot of it is corrupt and members aint always selected in the way that they are for most jobs, so that adds a lil difficulty. Ive learned that much from talkin to my long time neighbor.
So, say you deal with a non mob related union and there is plenty of em -- Its still a connections type bizness out here. you still pretty much gotta know somebody. Its a very, very desirable position, to be a trade worker in the union, and best believe you aint the only one who wants to be in that spot. If you aint got a friend, cousin, relative, etc who is in the know, who got some kind of connection, who can give you a recommendation or watever you get the idea, its gonna be even harder. Youll be at the bottom of the list.
As somebody from out of state without no connections in the bizness or nothin like that, who (ima assume til u say otherwise) aint got the experience or official certifications in these trades that you lookin to get into a union for, I aint sure how good your chances are.
And i dont know it all. I could be wrong--this is just the shit Ive learned from a decade of bein around all type of trade men, some in unions some not. I took Welding in highschool, and learned alot about the unions and the processes you gotta go thru in order to get certified and get into a union, and it aint easy in that field at least I know that for sure.
gettin into a union, when you are certified, experienced, and a local who might have a connection or two, in a good economy when theres lots of work, can still be difficult bizness. For someone from out of state and in your position, in times like right now, I definately would NOT come to jerz counting on gettin anywhere with that idea, at least not soon. It would take years to get the skills and experience and official certification and build the connections. The guys who got friends and family in the union are at the top of the list to get in, and youd be way at the bottom even as a fully qualified worker.
I aint tryna discourage you. And like I said. I aint no expert on this subject. This is the info I been able to put together from talkin to lots of people over time when I was interested in it myself....I gave up on that tho, once I understood how much has to go into it , and how every piece gotta fit just right--right timing when the union is opened to new members, right people to vouch for you, right experience and training, and so on....
I would suggest that comin here and expectin to be able to join a union is a unlikely situation, and you should either look to get a non union job in the trade you do/want to do, or just look into a different field completely.
If you are unemployed and a NJ resident the state will pay for you up to 4000 dollars to go to school to learn job skills. You can go to any county college, any state college, and a short list of other NJ schools. Theyll pay for you to go for any course that takes a year or less--all those "adult education class" type things that most community colleges offer--shit like X ray technician, legal secretary, bookkeeper, dental hygenist, human services worker, the list goes on. All kind of classes that you take for 6, 8, 10 months or watever, and when you come out, you got a defined, specific trade or certification that you can get a job in. Theyll only pay for you to take classes in fields that are growing and need jobs, so you pretty much guaranteed to find work when you done. You aint gotta be collecting unemployment--just to be unemployed. Theres a few eligibility requirements but you can go to ur local unemployment office and they offer a class like once a week usually, that explains the process, how you apply, where you can go to school, how long you can go for, how to be eligible, and shit like that, and then they help you thru it, help you register and get all set up, n so on. If you come here I think that would be your best bet.
And also....Like everybody else said...I dont know if you realize how close clifton is to paterson, but they are next door neighbors.
And anywhere in Clifton that will be affordable is the area right next to paterson. The spots that are farther away and nicer are pretty expensive, 1,500+ a month. The affordable places are definately nice houses and shit, but you are seriously blocks away from paterson in alot of those spots. Clifton and Paterson bump up right next to eachother, on one side of Crooks Ave you have Paterson, the other side is Clifton, and Main Ave on the clifton side/Main St on the Paterson side runs perpindicular to Crooks. Thats one of the more affordable areas of clifton. So im just sayin, you can cross Crooks and take Main ave for a few minutes and dope territory aint too far beyond.
I understand wat you sayin that you clean and all but being SOOOO CLOSE to one of the best places in jerz to get dope is definately not the best location for somebody lookin to stay away from that life. And bein a clifton resident, for alot of your shopping and other needs youll most likely be goin into paterson on the regular, and the way that city is, theres alot of dope hoods right around where the places you might go to eat, shop,etc are located at. So just be careful is all Im sayin. As much as you say you can get dope 10 min away from you now, I also remember you sayin that the dope here in Jerz when you tried it is much bigger bags, and much better dope, we both know you get more for your money here. So while 10 bags might cost the same, you know that those 10 bags are better dope and more in them, which makes it alot more tempting i would think. I know how it feels to be clean and got your mind set on that sobriety and be like na nothing gonna break this dont matter how close it comes to me. But we all get those fuck it days, when you just dont fuckin care. And in that position, if the dope aint around, you just let it pass you by. But when you get in one of those moods and theres some dope right there and you aint even gotta sniff around to find it but its just in your face, then your opinion just might change. So Im just warnin you--its easy to say the shit you sayin now from where you at but once you here and got that flame jersey diesel in your face on a I just dont give a FUCK, fuck the world, fuck my life type of days, you migt be singin a different tune is all. And i aint even questioning your commitment to sobriety or sayin you cant stay clean or nothin. Just talkin about the reality of the situation and lettin u consider it.
I could go on for days talkin about this area and the ups and downs, good and bad neighborhoods, and all that shit, so ima lay off now since this post already long as fuck but any information u lookin for about clifton, paterson, and all that, I can prolly answer it for you so ask away if you got any more questions. Hope that helped some...
