Hello everybody, I did a pre-apprenticeship for my local 292 last summer and missed the apprenticeship program by 7 sadly. This year there was no pre-apprentices hired on and they only hired 15 new apprentices total. I am wondering if anybody with knowledge of Minnesota IBEW culture knows why they went from hiring 190 last year to only 15 this year? I really want to join the union and I am working as a welder currently and want to make the switch but it doesn’t see likely at this point. Is it possible there will be a larger hiring pool next year? For reference I scored over 95% on my aptitude test, was told by my journeyman that he wishes he met me when when I was turning out so he could he me onto his crew full time, and had 2 letters of recommendation from veteran journeyman that have been at the union for over 30 years, how can I possibly improve my score more to make the cut(no there is not interviews anymore at 292).

Been seeing lots of stuff about all the work in Memphis TN. Incentives, perdiem, ect. Has anyone who has been there recently have any insight? Looking to possibly hit the road and check it out but I’m curious about conditions, pay, ect.