Going to Work
To gain employment through the Local, your name and current phone number must be on the Out of Work list.  Work orders are filled from the list, beginning at the top and working down the list.

Only the following exceptions are made, according to the contract:

• Plasterers (all) and Cement Mason Apprentices may seek their own job directly through an employer.  Cement Mason Journeymen may not!
• Any member may be requested by an employer, regardless of their place on the Out of Work list, if they have worked for that contractor within the previous two years.  That does not mean you can call them for work.
• A company may hire a Foreman regardless of their place on the list or whether or not they have previously worked for them.
• If a contractor requires a particular skill (e.g. machine man, step person, epoxy floor person, injection person, etc.), the dispatcher may go down the list until he finds the first member who has that skill or certification.

Outside these three exceptions, a contractor may not request a finisher by name who has not worked for that company before.  Plasterers & Apprentices are the only members who may seek their own work.

Unemployment

Local 528 is recognized by the Washington State Employment Security Department as a full-referral hiring union.  Membership in this union generally meets the work search requirements for eligibility of unemployment benefits.  Verification from the Union that a member is eligible for dispatch under Union rules is required.  Failure to be available for, or refusal of dispatch, raises questions of eligibility for unemployment benefits.

You must be ready, able and willing to immediately accept any suitable work offer, be in good standing with the Union, do whatever the Union requires to be referred to work, and report to Unemployment if you refused to accept a dispatch or were not available for dispatch.

Dispatch Rules

1. If you do not answer your phone on two successive occasions when you are called for dispatch, whether or not we leave a message, your name will be removed from the Out of Work list.
2. If you refuse a dispatch, your name will immediately go to the bottom of the hiring list and you shall be denied the right of immediate dispatch.
3. Your name will be dropped from the list for failure to check in within 9 days of placing your name on the list.  (Checking in once a week is a lot easier to remember - every Monday or Friday, for example.)
4. Always carry proper identification to work - your Social Security card and your Washington State driver's license or ID or passport.
5. Be ready to be dispatched to work.  Dispatch starts at 4:00 am.  Have a pen and paper by your phone and be ready to take the dispatch.  It is very busy, and lots of people need to be dispatched in the morning - don't make us wait on the phone while you find something to write with.
6. Buy a Thomas Guide for all three counties - Pierce, King and Snohomish.  It can save you time and money, and most importantly, get you to work on time.  You can buy them at Costco, Office Max, etc.
7. Most jobs require a Clean Card or drug test.  It is to your benefit to get a Clean Card and be able to test clean at all times.
8. These referral and hiring provisions have been entered into in order to comply with the National Labor Relations Act as amended and all the parties concerned shall cooperate with each other to comply with the requirement of the act.